Resident Evil 0: Executive Descision
by DisclosedBarrel
Summary: Sequel to Beginning Hour. Bravo and Delta team reached Umbrella's Training Facility, but it's not as safe as they'd thought as it's literally the root of the problem. The seeds of distrust are still being sewn into the ground as more people are exposing themselves. The hunt for the First Investigation Unit uncovers more questions others are willing to kill for...
1. Profession relationship

ALEXIS DAEMITH (MONOLOGUE)

We have reached the Executive Training Centre. Because of that bastard Stinger, the Ecliptic Express was destroyed - completely unsalvageable. That was just the start of the mission. Now the fruit of our effort was in motion as we entered the dead zone. The facility was closed two years ago after the _death_ of the general manager James Marcus. As per General Savage's command, I ordered a small group of men to re-open the facility not too long ago. They went dark and were presumed deceased. Those men under my leadership were gone... John, Nathan and James. I weep for them.

Now _I'm _here, but not alone, in fact, with Brett. We are the only ones left now... Apart from that, we have General Savage. I would follow his lead to the ends of the Earth. I love him. Despite the fallback, we also have two civilians and an officer of STARS. This is such a bad idea but sometimes things like this just happen... We're well on our way to investigate the facility, and I _pray _those outsiders don't get in the way of me completing my mission...

"Sounds like the others are waiting for you," Dorian snickered.

"Let them wait. I need to get some clothes on, the cold air is getting to me."

"That's why I'm here." Dorian's head popped out from the open hatch; he pulled himself out and straightened his back. Alexis got out after him and joined him taking in the sight of the modest main hall.

The regal chairs in neat rows on the ground floor with a door on opposite sides, main entrance to their right. Thick double doors. The floor was polished but like everything else, it was dusty from years of neglect. The chandelier above was still on, someone was here not too long ago. The second level had a nice balcony with two doors on one side and a stained glass window right above the entrance. Left an ominous feeling to their imagination since it was closed their entire lives.

Dorian saw the other four still around the hall. A young woman. A STARS member. A burly man with tattoos. Finally was his guy Brett Benton. He didn't feel any competition or reason to be mean. Sure he was asked to play the nice guy and earn their trust but only as a means to survive.

There was wisdom in that, at least. Though, the lack of power around strangers really left him out of his element. Dorian gave off his best smile to seem as convincing as can be. How convincing could he be wearing his Umbrella uniform and partnered with a naked lizard-woman hybrid?

He couldn't use his full rank since being a general would suggest he's so far up the corporate ladder, he would seem lest trustworthy that way. Could use a fake name like Doran Miles or something but he was just going to kill everyone outside of Umbrella anyway, so that would be pointless.

Plus, his people would call him by his name eventually and those lies would just drag. Dorian decided to just water the truth down a bit. Say he's the U.S.S.'s new captain and try to seem as helpless as they are and _put _their needs above his own. A clever ruse.

If they question his or their intentions, a possible alibi would be that the U.S.S. is just a private security force hired by Umbrella to look into hazardous environments. That's what a good company would do. His allegiance was to his own pleasure but he couldn't let outsiders know Umbrella has their own military, or he was the one to command them. They're a pharmaceutical giant, not some sort of tyrannical regime. The master would throw a bone and they'd get paid to bring it back and to nibble on. Just business.

Dorian had to eventually integrate into the group with a smile and work with them until they expire. He sauntered up to them with Alexis, keeping his weapon slung over his shoulder to mean no harm. "I didn't think anyone was in here," Dorian said, "Were you the ones from that train down there? The survivors?" The worst part was having to dumb himself down and downplay his knowledge and abilities. Something like a human would do.

When Benton saw Dorian, he was a little surprised. He knew the general was on his way, but he figured there was going to be a little more time till his arrival. That was nearly instantaneous. Almost like he was already in the area.

Then when he saw Alexis follow closely behind. Her scaly figure and lack of clothes was in full view of everyone, leaving next to nothing to the imagination. For someone who isn't human, she certainly had the right curves but he had to also wonder what made her prefer to go with such a look. It seemed odd to him.

When the general spoke to the group, Benton was at a bit of a disadvantage. He didn't know the direction the general was talking with the rest of the group, and since he was suddenly playing dumb, he assumed it was on a more cooperative side. It seemed to him that Alexis might have convinced him after all, to leave the rest of the group alive... maybe that's why she was lacking clothes. Not wanting to put the general in a precarious position, he decided to choose his words VERY carefully until he knew for certain what his intentions were.

"Yeah, it was one hell of a ride," came Benton's reply to Dorian. "Captain," he said, addressing Alexis, his eyes quickly going up and down her figure, "You're looking better…" He looked at Dorian. "I was just explaining to our friends here, that splitting up might not be a good idea. But now that there's more of us, I'm… _open _to the possibility of a compromise," he finished with reluctance in his tone, giving the other three a once over.

It was hard playing to his weakness, being a nice guy to humans. Not only that, trespassers. "Capital idea. I may have to find some wearable clothes for Miss Deamith here first, otherwise, she'll be a liability. Can't have her walking around naked, that's for sure." His eyes peered low at Rebecca and slowly drifted through her, Evie and ending at Billy's height. Thinking softly on how to exploit their weaknesses.

"My name's Dorian Savage," he continued, "and I'll be taking over for the time being. I would like to be the first one to say that everything's going to be just fine, but I'm afraid with the recent infestation in this facility, we're going to need to stick together. I don't like it, you don't like it, but I would rather not have anyone hurt under my supervision."

Rebecca watched the new guy curiously, he seemed to be more professional but at the same time she didn't know if he was anymore trustworthy than Benton. As a matter of fact Rebecca didn't know who to trust anymore.

Right now Billy, who was a criminal and killed multiple men, seemed like the most trustworthy to her. Besides maybe Evie, but she didn't know anything about her. Rebecca looked at Evie unconsciously staring at her as her mind raced with thought. What if she's also a criminal mastermind?

Evie was looking over at Dorian before she caught Rebecca staring at her out the corner of her eye. _Wh__y the hell is she staring at me like that for? _shethought_, __Is she checking me out? I'm not a lesbian, if you are, why not stare at the naked reptile chick? __Tit__s__ are tits, and hers are just… wow..._

Rebecca snapped out of her trance. "Sorry," she mumbled to Evie before looking back at Dorian. Rebecca wished the captain was here, he would know who to trust and who not to. "I'm Officer Chambers and this is Evie," she greeted. Evie gave a smirk and waved slightly.

Billy opened his mouth to argue some more with Benton, wanting to ferret out whatever it is that he might not about this place, when Alexis finally emerged along with someone entirely new. Alexis was going full on commando at this point, not even bothering to wear any other uniform similar to Benton's, just settling for underwear.

And the new guy was donned in an identical looking what, only with added armour. Noticing the silenced machine-gun slung over his shoulder, Billy winced internally. "Nice having an extra head in the mix..." He looked between all three of them with an even gaze. Rebecca was incredibly green when it came to combat and Evie was just a kid. Odds didn't fair well.

For the time being, it was best to play along. "Billy..." He sighed deeply, closing his eyes as he uncrossed his arms from his chest in a manner of someone who realizes they've been defeated. "Alright then, stick together an' all that." he grunted in a tone that indicated how much he disliked the idea.

Dorian gave a small two-finger salute. "Nice to meet you all. I see you're already familiar with Mr Benton and my… apprentice. It's good we're getting along, it's the sign of a healthy alliance, after all, we're in this mess together. I just wish it wasn't in here, of all places."

He looked back at the portrait at the top of the stairs and back at the girls again. "It will be pretty easy to get lost in here," he continued, "and there's no telling what horrors we may find. I won't force my leadership on you if I don't have to, but I only ask for you to play it safe."

"Naturally..." Billy sneered.

"I will scout the ground floor through the doors behind you," he said, pointing at the small double doors behind the four. "Once I find some clothes, I'll start looking for a safe way out of here. Any questions?"

Dorian's demeanour was troubling to Benton. He's never known the man to be accommodating or open minded, but he played the part for the rest. However, to Benton, the whole act seemed forced. It must have been because he knows better and was used to seeing the brutal dictatorship that came from the top brass of Umbrella. It put things in a bigger perspective of what kind of person Dorian Savage really is.

"Is this an Umbrella facility?"

"Aye, it is. Used to be a place of education but was closed twenty years ago."

"Right… so, you work for Umbrella too?"

Rebecca's comments was stirring Dorian's ire. "Well yes, but actually no. We're a private security force that Umbrella hired to put a stop to this mess."

Rebecca digested this information for later use. "That'll do for now, but I'll have some more for you to answer on a later occasion."

"If you so wish, Officer."

"So it's settled, we remain together," Benton reiterated for the group. Mainly to Billy since he got more pushback from him. Going along with the low level of professionalism and comfortability established by the general, Benton glanced over at Alexis, "Can I talk to you for a minute," he said, branching off from the rest of the group.

"Okay," said Alexis, unsure. She turned her head to Dorian and waved her hand. "Could you give us a minute? Captain..."

"If it's necessary, sure. When you're both finished, I will be checking out the room behind those doors," Dorian said, nudging his head towards the double doors behind. "Ladies and gentleman, unless you would rather wait here in the hall, I will be starting my investigation now." Dorian peeled himself away from the group and started walking away towards the double doors.

Alexis couldn't think of anything to say to strangers she barely knew, it would feel at least a bit more professional but it was a matter of general manners. She didn't care and it felt natural. She walked with Benton and followed him closely. "Shoot."

After Alexis and Benton got a good distance from the rest of the group, he gave her a quick up and down glance of her figure. There was a lot going through his head and why she decided to not wear anything practical was one of them.

"I'd ask... why," he said with a gesture of her nearly naked body, "But I'm a guy, so we'll forget it and move on," and with that, gave a glance at Dorian as the man wandered off before diverting his attention back at Alexis, "Something you're not telling me? We are hours from any form of outside life and suddenly he's already here?"

"It's a small town. It's amazing how all these roads and buildings connect, but he never did mention how he got here so quickly. Could have walked along the tracks, since the train cleared a way through the branch line. Then again, he covers ground _very _quickly_, _could have simply walked here." She folded her arms, not making eye contact. I was crying down in the basement and he just found me, that's all I know. Not even sure if it's relevant."

Benton couldn't seem to make sense of Alexis' reasoning to the general's sudden arrival. Not to mention the horrors that obviously lurk in those woods wouldn't have made it easy. Maybe they were out a little longer than he thought when the train crashed. He just felt like something was missing and then that was all cut from his thought when Alexis seemed to let something personal slip.

"I must not have heard you right," he stated, finding it odd if it was true that his captain was brought to tears by some unknown factor, "Did you say you were crying?"

Alexis breathed loudly. "I... felt an attack... caused by my anxiety. In a sharp moment, I had no idea what was true and what wasn't. I just... lost my mind and acted on impulse. I was threatened and lost my breath. I don't know what came over me but looking back at it now, I _did _indeed fail and... panicked."

Benton was a little thrown off at her response. He looked confused, again, trying to make sense of everything. He had questions but they only seemed relevant to her and not the mission. He was hesitant to ask but realized she already shared something pretty personal, and that was enough.

"I wouldn't say you failed, but it was a rocky start," he replied, trying to figure her out. He then inched closer to her, a little concerned his team leader was flawed in a time of need. "Are you going to be okay? You crying, anxiety attacks, not wearing any clothes, this doesn't fill me with confidence in you," he confessed.

"I'm fire-proof, my uniform wasn't and my emotions are a work-in-progress affair. I will join the general to find some appropriate clothes for me to wear and then we'll move on. I only asked for this life since being a scientist was too slow for my taste. If I have to cry and hurt myself to learn, then so be it. I only wished I could've held on a bit longer."

The topic was undoubtedly coming to the point Alexis just made. Benton instantly concluded to himself that he wasn't going to rely on her for any support throughout the mission. Openly admitting to being a liability wasn't a leadership quality. He was fine with her needing time to learn, but now really was not that time; being cut off from support with little to work with, fighting an enemy he knows very little about, there was much on the line.

"You're really not what I thought you'd be," he said to her, a little annoyed he was let down so hard, "If we make it through this, Captain, I think this might be the end of our professional relationship," he said firmly.

She really disappointed him, his cheery and over the top attitude drained to this cold, emotionless grunt. She was definitely something for a science experiment, appealing to the eyes, but she wasn't strong or fearful like he's heard about.

Her notoriety was appearing to be too hyped up; she didn't give the impression of being strong willed or a super soldier. That's what she was, technically, but lacking areas like integrating with the outside world really crippled her potential. More field work was necessary.

"Once this ordeal is over you'll most likely be assigned to Alpha Team, I'll be sure to put in a good word. I may not be the best leader but I can still have my say to our superiors. I can't give any orders now, though I would highly suggest working closely with Dorian. We won't be associated with these people for much longer, and when we need to get rid of them, I'd rather not get in the way."

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here," Benton said, actually a little interested in the possible promotion. It was a bit of an incentive now to make it out alive. "But okay. I doubt any of us will be in the way when it comes to that," he added, finding himself thinking more and more about her recommendation to their superiors. It was a long shot, but it perked him up and it truly didn't take much when it came to his needs.

"We have a new primary objective to the mission and he hasn't told me yet. I'd prefer to hear it with you by me."

_"__I'd like that. I just want to know what needs to be done."_

Rebecca sat down in one of the chairs and began to check her ammo. She let out a sigh and stood up once the others were ready to move. Rebecca couldn't believe what was happening, this was not what she had signed up for.

Rebecca glanced over at Evie who was swinging the bat as if she was taking practice swings in a batter's box. Rebecca couldn't help but feel bad for her. She was just a civilian caught up in all this chaos and even lost her brother during all this madness.

"I don't like the situation we're in..." Alexis muttered. "We'd best peel away from these three and just stick with the general."

Benton gave Alexis a look of confusion as he then shook his head, "No, we're all suppose to stick together, remember?" He glanced over at Rebecca and Billy before bringing his gaze back on Alexis, "Look, I'm not leaving any of them alone so they can wander freely and stumble upon something that they shouldn't see. Or worse; a better gun. I'm sure we'll be filled in later."

"We can ask him when we're alone."

"I'm used to being on the need-to-know basis anyway, for now. We better get back to them, we'll finish this later," he added, with the turn of his shoulder, wandering back to the other three.

"I think the damage could already be done, but if that's how you feel then so be it. For future references, I don't think the mission changed much." Alexis walked on and brushed past Benton; she kept her head low. Not only she avoided eye contact, she never made a sound and left the main hall, followed Dorian's route.

Noticing Evie practising her swing was a good sign she was planning to fight, but he wasn't too hopeful that a bat was going to be much use to him on top of her age. He didn't like Billy and he was certain Billy didn't like him either, so there was very little for him to rely on there.

That left Rebecca. She was clearly naive but that's something he could work with. The fact she was a cop would give her a sense of duty and responsibility, and hopefully help him keep the group in line through her support. Easier to get rid of them.

Benton waved softly at Rebecca, noticing earlier that she was checking her magazines. "You good on ammo?" he asked, trying to break the ice.

"Yeah, I think so." Rebecca flashed a friendly smile at Benton. "I actually probably would have over prepared if I knew the mission was going to be this ridiculous," she admitted.


	2. The first lead

Billy ran his fingers through his slicked hair in frustration, his dark eyes narrowing in suspicion at the joviality of the new player to their group, Dorian. Something about him, the way he was just casually going about this horribly, fucked up situation made him come off as way too slick for his liking.

Between him, Benton and Alexis; it felt like he was standing in the midst of sharks that could go into a feeding-frenzy and devour all himself, Rebecca and Evie in an instant. Then again, perhaps he wasn't really one to judge with him being a convict. "_Framed convict" _he quickly corrected himself quietly, his gaze moving away from Benton and Alexis towards Rebecca and Evie.

Well, at least with those two; he had nothing to worry about. Rebecca came off as pretty earnest and straight-forward, letting you know where you stood in her eyes. Her career in law-enforcement would probably give her a moralistic drive to see through whatever horrors that were in her path. Evie was just an innocent kid caught up in all of this mess, and wouldn't wander very far.

_CRASH! _Billy snapped his head towards the double-set of doors to his right at the sound of what sounded like furniture being knocked over or cabinets getting broken. The confounded racket seemingly lasting a few seconds before silence fell over the grand hall.

Without saying a word, Billy slowly slid his .45 from the back of his jeans; slowly approaching the door. It was possible that whatever made that noise was just zombies, but at the same time, perhaps it was a person.

Gripping his fingers on the door knob, he slowly turned...and pushed the door open, taking a few steps back. "Oh great..." he grumbled in annoyance at the sight of three zombies, one of them wearing uniforms similar to Benton, trudging around a large dinning room table

Eyeing over the small dinning room, plus kitchen situated in the back visible through the window next to a bright red door. Billy fired away, watching the zombie to his right collapse in a heap, blood pools spreading out through their open wounds. It died over a collapsed bookshelf.

"Guess it's official, this place is infected too," Billy sighed.

Dorian slung his MP5 over his shoulder, the small few kills he had were interrupted and he was trying to isolate himself with Alexis. Not everything went to his preferences but it did save him a few rounds and a bit of hassle, couldn't help at least giving a fake smile. Three bodies were counted around the dining tables with two by the door to the left.

"I appreciate you saving me a few bullets. I thought I could check the kitchen out for some chef whites or an apron or something." Dorian walked to the red door with a fire motif on it; he tried to open it like a normal door but he was so wrong. He struggled. "Well, this is unfair. It's locked."

"Should I?"

"It's not important really." Dorian pulled back and slammed his right shoulder into the middle. The door didn't budge and he let go in a huff. "Whatever, I didn't want to go in there anyway."

"Captain, we could just vault over the counter."

Dorian scratched his scalp. "I knew that." Dorian slid his body over the waist-high counter, with each leg first. "I figured it would be more entertaining to kick down the door."

"Men..." Alexis followed him slowly over the counter.

Evie went followed Billy, gripping the bat tightly. She actually hung back close to the door they had come through and saw the bodies littered around the dining table. Evie would have jumped in if it had seemed like it had got out of hand at any point.

Billy couldn't help but let out a snort of amusement at watching Dorian vault himself over the counter. Eyeing down at Evie as she came in from behind, bat raised; he gave her an encouraging smile. "Keep close kid, don't go wandering off too far. Also, if you really want to deliver some damage in your swings; make certain you cork your hip in with your swings."

Billy brought his arms up, making the motion of holding a back as he leaned pivoted back and swung his arms forward, turning his hips with it. "You'll deal more damage that wa-" Pausing at the moaning and groaning of another uniform zombie, rising up from behind the counter of the kitchen behind the new guy; Billy pointed. "Dorian, counter!"

While Dorian was pissing about on his PDA Alexis caught on with the moaning and groaning behind them and swung her handgun around. She fired two rounds, one hit the zombie's chest and gut area, it staggered but still stood even despite piercing the armour. Dorian whipped his head around and slid his MP5 into his hands, his stance was firm while he waited for the zombie to raise its head for a clean kill. Alexis recognized the black uniform, like Benton's only less armoured, and damaged.

Dorian fired a single round at the zombie's head, it exploded the back of its head with bits of skull and brain blown out. Its body fell, dead. Useless. Dorian set his MP5 on the counter in the middle of the kitchen. "You did a great service calling out to me, thank you."

Alexis vaulted back over the counter to check the zombie Dorian just put down. "Captain..."

"What is it?"

Alexis checked the pockets of the zombie with little enthusiasm. No hidey hole was safe as she checked everything thoroughly. She sighed."It's James..."

"Who's James?" Billy asked.

"One of my guys..." she replied.

"From the First Investigation?" Dorian said from behind the counter.

"Yeah. That just leaves John and Nathan. He's not carrying anything special, not anymore..."

"I'm sorry about your friends," Benton replied, referring to both Kenneth and Edward. With his attention still focused on Rebecca, he cleared his throat, trying to find the right words to build the bridge over the gap that separates them from the Umbrella operatives, "Look, I know this has got to be a difficult situation for you. You're the cop here, and I'm sure they will rely on you at some point," he said with a nod of his head at Billy and Evie, "The same way I will. I know you don't trust me but... I trust you. All I ask is a chance that you utilise me when you need it. Work with me so we can all get the hell outta here alive."

The gunshots in the kitchen caught his attention. With the doors open, he could see both Billy and Evie standing there by the table, looking into the room. They didn't seem panicked or too worried. The faint sound of Dorian's voice setting the mood. It still appeared everything was under control on their end. He then stared back at Rebecca.

"Thanks, I appreciate it. They were both great guys, very helpful in teaching me to be ready for being cop." Rebecca said. "But I don't think any amount of training could prepare someone for this." She glanced over towards where all the shooting had just went down figuring it appeared that Billy and the others had it under control. Rebecca nodded after thinking for a second. "Yeah, okay. I guess if we wanna get out of this we should trust each other."

Billy peeked out into the main hall, staring intently at Benton as he seemed to be relaying his concerns to Rebecca. He'd have to talk with her when he got the chance. For now, it was best to get things out in the open with Evie. Making a non-verbal gesture for her to approach him, he leaned up against the half-blooded faucet, next to the door. "Hey kid, listen. These guys…" he eyed over at Alexis and Dorian, at them conversing, "I'm having a hard time trustin' any of them. It's way to much of a stretch for me that they either don't know a whole lot about this place, or the fact that their company's involved in some pretty shady stuff."

Moving away from the bloodied faucet, he sighed deeply. Glancing away, he closed his eyes in slight annoyance; letting it known that he wasn't a hypocrite. "Considering my own situation, I'd get it if you were having a hard time trusting me. All I'm saying for now is just… help me keep an eye on them for now. Just for anything suspicious that they might do or say. I could be wrong, and that they're just caught up in this situation like us… but still"

_BANG! _The sound of gunfire got Billy's attention, causing him to turn and draw his gun; pointing it in the direction of what sounded like multiple shots, a door just by the bloody sink. He was staring at a young man, early-twenties, with short brown, shaved hair. Wore a bright orange S.T.A.R.S. vest.

"Damn..." Billy was simply just standing there; pistol just pointed at the officer. He noticed a dead waitress behind him.

"This isn't good." Dorian shook his head.

The table in the middle of the kitchen was a great place to vent his disdain, firmly with his hands fixed on the edges. Dorian started taking some slow breaths. More and more people are making themselves noticeable with them just suddenly showing up out of the blue. He only came to the kitchen to get away from the humans but even that was too good to be true. There was room to pat himself on the back for fitting in fairly, well.

Dorian was sure he heard someone eavesdropping him and Alexis shortly after that U.S.S. zombie was killed. They had to talk about it since that ex-member was part of the investigation team Alexis sent in to meet up with later on.

It was a good presumption to say they all have already perished to the horrors of the facility. He stressed out the fact they all went missing when they ventured out further beyond the Training Facility, with some decent findings. Information that would abolish Dr Marcus' name and bare fruit for their efforts.

There wasn't anything to salvage on James' body. Must've turned when he set his equipment down or something like that. Since he was a member of the team with information Umbrella wants, Dorian checked all the pockets which turned out to be useless, only apart from a crumpled note.

There was enough information written on it to suggest their findings was passed down to one person to safeguard. It didn't say who it was but they were bunkered down in the refinery in the furthest of areas. Outside the Training Facility no doubt.

Alexis felt reassured to locate her last two men and find the incriminating information about the company's founder. That would give Marcus the one-two punch out. His name would be tarnished more than usual and he will be dead by the end of the day.

This is a great opportunity to show up Wesker and Birkin by killing Marcus for good, plus, he can prove his blatant superiority. Dorian was sure Marcus would reveal himself again, increasing the risk of the nosy survivors to discover the truth.

Alexis found a new set of chef whites. They were purest of white and triple extra large, fit over her bust like you wouldn't imagine. Her hips weren't as _thick _so she done up the trousers nice and tight. She flourished her threads to Dorian and asked for his opinion. He admitted white brought out the green in her scales... She had some clothes now and only had to relay over the mission with Dorian, and then pass it on to Benton.

Dorian went as far as he could at the back of the kitchen with her and kept his voice low. "We can go over the mission now."

"Rightly so. I'm ready."

"We will get around to finding the final evaluation eventually, only once we get out of this facility."

"I have to admit, that's the best thing I heard all day: a potential survivor. Hopefully, he will have enough findings for this mission to be a passable success."

Dorian gave a reassuring smile. "With recent events, our primary mission is now _our__secondary_ mission. Command sent me down here to finish what you started but that was before that P.A. went off. Did you hear it?"

"From the branch line? Yes. What of it?"

"After that command got a call from Dr Marcus; he's alive."

"Still? But Dr Scott-"

"Believe me, we _all _know of his impotence but I'll grill the Council about it later. Marcus being alive is a problem for everyone associated with Umbrella, and now I have strict orders to eliminate him and make sure he stays dead this time. I need everyone here to support my mission as I am taking direct control."

"Everyone? What of the civilians?"

Dorian went all flustered and lost his smile. Looked like he was going to go on one of his famous and hilarious rants. He threw his arms and forced a smile. "Let's say it's my best interest to keep them alive to get the mission done. Personally, the sooner they die the better."

"So what? We earn their trust as long as it helps the mission?"

"Until they become a threat or a liability. With this place being dark the last twenty years I have no idea where anything is in here and I doubt you do too."

"We can't work so close to them, everything here is related to Umbrella. They'll know about our... questionable nature."

"Once Marcus is dead, we'll kill them all. I'd sooner shoot them down right now but…" Dorian sighed. "With Marcus back with all these leeches around, we cannot pass up the extra guns."

Alexis looked away, reflecting her near miss with death. She felt smaller than normal. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. If Marcus got command all in a stir then it must be bad."

"We have a job to do, we'd best get to it. I want you to inform Benton that Marcus is our top priority. How's your radio?"

Alexis placed her hand on her faulty radio and looked back up to Dorian. "Mine can't make any calls and Benton's is lost."

Dorian scoffed. "Damn. Okay, I'll scout the facility and give you any crucial news, or more orders. I want you and Benton to stay safe and keep an eye out for anything that might be useful for our mission. Shoot to kill any threat if necessary while working your way out of the facility. I'll keep you posted since I can't work around these people."

"Seems a bit half-baked don't you think?"

"That's why I'm separating myself from the civvies. To think we're having to put up with all this because of Wesker and Birkin; it's their fault Marcus wasn't disposed properly and the 'half-baked' alliance with these trespassers."

"Must be a mid-life crisis for them."

"They just don't want to underestimate Marcus and his leeches. With the praise he gets from them _and _Spencer, I'm obligated to agree to disagree with their choice."

"It won't be easy working with these people, only to kill them."

"I know but extra hands on deck might not be the worst idea ever." Dorian scratched his back. "When Marcus is dead and the facility is open I will be sure to piss off our bosses a bit more than usual. Just to make things fair."

"Maybe when it's open _you _could be the general manager," she smiled.

Dorian stuttered, nicely. "No, no..." He scratched the side of his head. "I'm already on the Umbrella Council, I don't need this. It will either be Scott or James."

Alexis laughed, more than usual. Red-faced with tears, she was losing her breath after a minute of non-stop laughing. Dorian smiled that she was having a nice giggle. "James..." She laughed some more. "That bumbling oaf?"

"He's… not completely useless..."

"He'd lose his head if it wasn't on his shoulders!" Alexis' chuckles were soft, and cute.

"All the more reason for me to grill the Council later." Dorian took out some 9mm magazines from the pouch over his thigh and gave it to Alexis. "Take these and get back to Benton."

"Oh... sure babe." She took the ammunition and put into her deep pockets. She walked away before she started laughing again, vaulting over the smooth counter. "I'll check out the lower levels as soon as I can slip away.

"Please do." Dorian smiled. "All the evils these days are all underground..."

"That's what I'm counting on."

"To think we had three eligible bachelors to evolve that day, and Scott was the winner. I'll never let that bastard live this down."

"I don't expect you to, babe."


	3. Lesser of two evils

**Richard **slowly approached the inner part of the dinning room, the silence was thick as the room was serene. His icy blue eyes noticed the burly man with the tattoos, not noticing the other figure slithering into a door behind him.

He gave a wicked grin, feeling like an action hero from a movie. "Coen, isn't it?" said Richjard, eyeing up the muscle shirt and jeans, standing next to a younger female with fiery red hair. As he motioned his gloved hand and holstered his weapon, and began noticing the two startled. "Easy now; I'm not worried about arresting you just yet. My name's Richard Aiken of R.P.D. STARS**, any of you two infected?"**

**"No, I'm not."**

**"And you miss?"**

**Evie shook her head.**

**"Are you okay?"**

**"She's mute," Billy clarified on Evie's behalf.**

**"Damn it, I'm sorry. Listen, I shouldn't really say this but I'm gonna need ****you're help."**

**"We're all about helping each other out, Officer..."**

**Something crashed inside the kitchen, followed by a loud curse. Richard pulled out his handgun. "Who's back there?!"**

**"Yeah, there's something we forgot to mention."**

**Dorian climbed out of the kitchen and walked over to Billy, Evie and Richard. He had his arms raised in a mock surrender, looking bored. "Don't shoot, I'm human..."**

**Billy sighed. "We're not alone..."**

**"Right..." Richard aimed his weapon a little lower. "Who are you?"**

**"Dorian."**

**Richard huffed, immediately disliking the armoured, younger man. "You're not a usual civilian, what's your business here?"**

**"****To survive and get to the bottom of this mystery."**

**"You could be useful… Any one else still alive in this dump?"**

**"The other's are in the main hall," Billy said, stepping in, "One's a STARS member too."**

**"For real? Take me to them."**

**Dorian let down his arms and made his way to the door behind Richard. "You'd best all stick together, I'll be beginning my investigation."**

**Richard stopped Dorian by holding onto his arm before he could get far. "Hold on, I want some answers from you."**

**Dorian ripped his arm from Richard's feeble grasp. "I ****_said, _****'I'll be beginning my investigation now'." Dorian walked through the door and didn't look back.**

**"Oi! Get back here!"**

**"Leave him. I bet seeing you would put a smile on Rebecca's face, ****the poor girl is feeling down."**

**"Rebecca?" Richard smiled. ****"****What are we waiting for, let's go!"**

It was bad enough Dorian had to work with humans and be out of his element, he was stuck in a facility he had no knowledge of. The damned place was closed twenty years ago, a year before his creation. The trespassers could at least scout the rest of the ground floor while he works around upstairs and beyond. That would make them partially useful.

There was a burst pipe spewing steam by the kitchen before he went up the next room's ladder, Dorian wondered if it was worth coming back to it since he would have to walk through. Heat won't kill him but it would hurt like fuck. Nothing special on the balcony. Then there was the assembly hall. The portraits and standing areas were well kept but nothing out of the ordinary. He'll come back to the podium later on.

Before he went to the red door he checked out the room opposite it. Inside was the facility's infirmary. The three beds were mouldy and may be infested with bugs, seating benches were losing their colour. Dorian patted down the nearest bed and he could see the dust puff up, he coughed up as some got in his throat. He noticed some pages by the pillow with words on it.

_We are searching the facilities, and it looks like a lot of the chemicals survived. Fortunately, the storage tanks are full. We've just started and there's still a lot we don't know, but it appears that the chemicals can be mixed to produce new substances. The chemicals are scattered all about. Not because of the accident, but more of a result of plain mismanagement. When we re-open the facilities, we have to develop a system for dealing with these chemicals._

He flipped the page over. _Red__Blue=Sulphuric Acid. Green__Red=Stripping Agent._

This information wasn't too special but it was proof his team made it this far. Dorian left the infirmary and went back to try out the red door. It was locked with a fire motif on it. It was to keep people out, not him. He rammed his shoulder through the door on the second try and beat it down. It was an office fit for a director or at least the general manager.

The chessboard floor was a huge eyesore. With all the books on the desk ripe with information, Dorian got comfortable on the chair behind the desk and started reading. It was a tall pile and if the books weren't for studies or students, they were juicy snippets of diagrams and formulas. If he could understand what Dr Marcus was plotting he could plan his next move, or at least find him quicker.

The room was a bit cold and it was pitch dark outside. Nothing like a good book to pass the time. He hoped Marcus left some incriminating evidence behind.

Richard Aiken had made small talk with Billy, mostly some formalities. He felt some joy seeing Rebecca still safe. "Rebecca, it's so good to see you! Anyone else here?" Richard Aiken paused in that moment as his voice hung low, "Did Enrico make it?"

Benton focused on Rebecca. For that split second something hit him, something unusual he's rarely experienced before. Her innocence and positive nature would usually be a bit of an annoyance, but she was trying to push through everything, especially after witnessing the deaths of her colleagues. He grew a little respect for her, even if he has the intention to kill her at the end of all this.

The appearance of another officer was alarming, and where he had come from was a new question that had to be answered. When he approached Rebecca, the Umbrella operative took a brief step back, but not too far. The last thing he wanted was for this new officer to disrupt his plans to build trust among the group because he saw something he shouldn't have. He just waited with Alexis.

Rebecca practically leapt to her feet when she saw Richard, until he mention Enrico. "I'm sorry, Kenneth and Edward didn't make it," she said, sadly getting straight to the point. "I don't know about the captain or the others."

_Richard _reluctantly sighed hearing the news of the fallen comrades, both Edward and Kenneth were good men. He shifted his eyes to the two behind her, the man in blacks and the woman in whites. "Who are you two?"

"Benton," was all Benton said, short and simple.

Alexis raised her head. "Alexis."

Richard saw the green beauty's facial features, noticing her longer snout and golden eyes. "Holy shit… Are you okay?"

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful..."

"Yeah… that's one way to put it..."

"She's with me, Officer," said Benton.

"Okay. First thing's first, we're investigating this place. We'd best start from the ground up."

"Fair enough," Billy said. He pointed to a single door behind the group, opposite the dining area. "I'm gonna go over there and check it out."

"We should also stick together.," Richard added.

"That too." Billy walked to the single door he pointed at. "Come on then. This won't take too long."

Rebecca, Richard and Evie followed Billy, but Benton stayed with Alexis. "I'll check out the underground," she said.

"I'll keep an eye on them."

Alexis gave Benton a silent nod, reminding him of his obligations. He kept that in mind before she peeled away to go back into the dining area. Benton followed the others to keep up the charade.

Alexis didn't like how there was another STARS member joining the dumbfounded group. Another target. Another means to an end. Another kill... Benton was fine where he was, he knew what needed to be done. As far as everyone knows, they were all in the same boat. To survive and get out of here, only to die right at the end if it needed to be.

The mission though. She thought about Dr Marcus and how he needed to be terminated above anything else, the facility was only a secondary. She would eventually let Benton know about the mission about Marcus, but a quick scouting wasn't a bad idea either. Dorian could still call her for any updates, though, until then a scouting was in order. Might be an effective way to fence everyone together to kill.

Alexis left the cafeteria and went through the other door. By the door to the right was a window; it was still dark outside. She took the stairs down on her left into a boiler room. Super-heated steam was spewing from a busted pipe. It was scolding hot, but then her thick scales were armoured and her blood was cooled. She charged through the steam and felt the heat fizzle her back and hair. Barely tickled.

There was a really old door at the bottom of some more stairs. Wooden and seemed quite dank from the age and moisture. She sighed and marched on further underground into a basement hall. Around the left corner was a large ring of animal statues. Snake, lion, stag were only the few. Looked like they could use a light... Further down the hall was a table with a few 9mm bullets scattered on it.

That was good time to top up her handgun and carry on down some more stairs, ignoring a door to her left. Seems like there was nothing useful, other than the decor being dank and otherwise smelly. She passed through the door further down and heard some faint steps that weren't hers. She spread her back on the wall and peered around the right corner. Other than the colder environment and dampness, she was spooked out to see something she found creepy.

_Spiders, why does it have to be spiders. _Spiders Of Unusual Size. She had to bail out of the room for now, they were just so sudden. Large and hairy never mixed. They crawled on the ceiling and walls, counting three of them. She'll come back to them later once she checks out the statues upstairs…

Billy had followed the others through the door he pointed at, a bit grateful for the sudden appearance of this new guy, Richard. Even if it was S.T.A.R.S., he'd trust them a lot sooner than these Umbrella people. Not only that, but the guy seemed pretty earnest to boot, willing to listen before drawing his gun.

"Glad your not shooting me on sight" Billy quipped softly, temporarily forgetting about the crash in the next room.

"You're the lesser of two evils right now, Mr Coen."

Glancing back over his shoulder for a brief moment, Billy paused. Alexis had vanished, leaving himself, Evie, Rebecca, Richard and Benton. _The odds are __not __in __our__ favo__u__r for the time being._

Billy was somewhat annoyed that she had slipped away so quickly. Noting Richard pulling Rebecca over to the side; he considered going over to join them for a moment but remembered his own situation. "I heard something in the other room. I don't think we're the only ones down here..."

Richard Aiken knew it was a lot for the rookie to take in. He smiled, extending his arms wide and giving Rebecca a reassuring hug. "Listen, I know its a lot, but I'm going to see if I can repair my radio."

"Please do. We can't do this without outside help."

"How's yours?"

"I can _barely _make calls, but I can still receive them."

"Good enough… If ya need me, I'll be in the dining room. It's safer, and maybe that green chick's still about. But see if you guys can find something to give us a clue about this place, that would be huge." Richard let go of Rebecca.

Seeing the young girl with red hair, Richard thought a moment an in sign language introduced himself best his ability, but least he knew how to communicate his name to her. His girlfriend was way better at this stuff, as he began to miss his girlfriend back in Raccoon City.

Rebecca took in everything that Richard had said and gave a nod, "Yeah that sounds like a good plan." Before she could say anything else he hurried out of the room backs towards where they had come.

Before anyone made a move, there was the sound of muffled gunfire. The sound must of been coming from couple floors up. Richard met the young girls' expression and back at Billy, finally at the operative in black. "Survivors?"

Benton sighed. "Possibly..."

There was little to no progress in the director's office. The books stacked on the desk were just for study uses for students or any future executive; Dorian was already an executive which meant the information the books offered was the worst kind. Unnecessary information. He got up from the leather chair and slammed his hands on the desk with a horrible burden of frustration on his shoulders.

He only forced his way through that thick knight door and that stupid motif door to understanding the facility more, giving his hopes up when he found some books that could paint a better picture to what his target was planning or at least hiding. He backhanded the stack of books and sent them all flying across the room and slammed his fists harder on the desk, caving in the wooden exterior. A large cavity was left on the desk and he beat it down some more.

It a heated rage Dorian broke the desk down with his meaty fists and kicked the thing to splinters. Before he dug himself into a pit of predictable toxicity, Dorian breathed slowly to vent off the heat. His time was precious and it was being wasted doing something he was sure would be useful, only it wasn't. Unnecessary information at the highest order. Luckily if breathing wasn't cutting it, he still had a pack of cigarettes in one of his pockets.

They were like cigars, only shaped like smaller straights. There were fond memories of blowing smoke in Alexis' face since she despised the smell of the smoke. A peeve that pleased him so. Typical sibling banter. It was good to relax and to think where to go next. Could call her at some point while he checks out the upstairs and beyond that.

There was a black book he never noticed, one with unusual weight and spread open like most women he knew. There was black bat wing of sorts by it, something unimportant. Under his boot was a plain book. Dorian picked it up and skimmed through it, inside were dates and locations. The handwriting was Marcus'. Could be worth a pretty penny from Spencer, or something to help him find the man in question.

Dorian left the office and walked back through the double doors with those suits of armour on. Their locked swords kept the door firmly shut, but like all locked doors, they were made to keep people out. Not superhumans. The swords just needed to be forced back just enough to open the door mechanism.

He wasn't ready to see another trespasser in the assembly room between all the desks. That was another two uninvited people joining the party within a few minutes. Leave the door open suddenly the whole city just walks in.

Not only the new trespasser looked like a chav, he was younger. An emo or Gothic teen with a gun. Not something you see in education, especially an Executive Training Facility. Save him the effort if he was infected but there was only one way to find out. He slipped his MP5 from his shoulder and kept it close to his hip with the barrel pointing at the kid.

"I won't bother saying you're in a restricted area, or that this is a hostile location, but let's start with your name and your business here."

The kid squealed in surprise.


	4. Alexis meets her brothers

Richard sat at one of the dining tables and put his radio on the desk. He opened the slit on the side, Richard found the device opened smoothly and his fears were met. That fall in the mountains with the dogs, though the device impacted and cushioned the fall, unfortunate left his radio little grizzly.

That fall resulted in the components on the small circuit board to not work properly. Licking his lips and using the light of the handgun angled to give him some illumination, the senior communications officer carefully removed the electronic ribbon and began.

Benton was frustrated that after Dorian and Alexis had agreed that everyone should stay together, they themselves decided to scout ahead, leaving one man to fend against four others that clearly don't trust him. They either thought too highly of him, which is ironic given his disgraced track record, or they care very little about them. The latter made more sense, and if they didn't then why should he.

When Richard took Rebecca aside, potentially undoing everything Benton did to establish that bridge, it was the final straw. He didn't care about protecting the company he was working for if their own commanding officers didn't act like it.

So he wandered back into the main hall and went upstairs, turning towards the double doors leading to the assembly room. "Not gonna babysit these people, too much effort for what it's worth..."

He paused when he saw a little black ornament on the floor next to the Lady Justice statue. A white angel already weighting down one side of the scale. Benton knelt over and picked up the black ornament, a wing clearly missing as he carefully examined it. It dawned on him that the previous team was on to something but had yet to finish it and he brought his eyes back up to Lady Justice.

He stood and began to ponder. "First I fixed the train.. now I'm solving puzzles? Definitely not part of the job description."

Billy approached Rebecca, and Evie, letting out a grunt as he felt Benton's presence was gone. He shook his head with both relief and dread washing over him. "So, where's everyone gone?"

"Richard's in the dining room," Rebecca replied. "Trying to fix his radio."

"Do you think it'll work all the way back to town? Whatever's going, we need the cops, the army, anyone who'll be able to figure out what all this is about."

"All we can do is wait..."

"I think now would be a good time for all of us to start looking around. Whatever that noise was upstairs just now, I'm thinking of going to investigate. Any of you guys wanna come with? Probably dangerous but not like there's anything back here. Maybe a toilet or something if we're lucky."

"W-WHOA?!" the kid cried out, backing up till he slammed against the door behind him hard; his shotgun hefted up and pointing back at the man in fear. "D-Don't shoot! Don't shoot! I swear I'm not a threat!"

Forgetting about the irony on how he was pointing a gun at this man. Eyeing down at his shotgun for a moment, he slowly lowered it so the barrel wasn't pointed at him.

"I-I'm Irvine. I…." He could feel his face turn red from embarrassment at having to state this aloud to someone else. "Some jerks from school pranked me by…driving me all the way out here and dumpin' me in the woods. I just started walking in some random direction and I found this mansion. T-The front door was locked, so I climbed my way up onto the balcony."

"This facility belongs to Umbrella and has been purposely hidden in the middle of nowhere for a reason. How the hell are people like you getting inside?" Dorian pocketed the diary and lowered his weapon. "You, and anyone else for that matter have no business trespassing here. You can follow me to the hall but I will have to ask you to stay with the other survivors. You'll be safer with them. Come." Dorian walked around the assembly part of the room and went through the doors back to the hall's second floor.

Benton was outside by a stupid looking puzzle. "Sir…?"

"Ah, Mr Benton," he exclaimed with a fierce smile. "Perfect timing. Now we can talk."

Alexis needed a lighter for this stupid puzzle. It was clear older people enjoy puzzles enough to have a bit of an obsession. Something the founders were guilty of. She walked circles around the circular animal puzzles and slowly lost interest in it.

She had to face the giant spiders downstairs and drew her gun out. The first one was latched on the ceiling like a tick... or a spider. Were spiders that bad for a Hunter? They naturally ignored her and allowed her to pass under it, and the other two around the corner. They were on the wall and ceiling. The door on the right could be checked on the way out. Start from the bottom first.

In the room at the end were two ways, on the left was an opening and some stairs to the right. There was a small workshop area with lockers all around. Rifled weapons of all kinds were on the tables by them. Assault rifles, submachine guns and shotguns. No handguns or any ammunition was in sight. Nothing was loaded in the weapons; she checked them thoroughly.

Alexis felt they were all in repair, just all paperweights or junk. Any round that was seen had no lead or primer. A single pistol round was in the cupboard at her knees. A larger caliber. Stingy much... That was enough of upstairs. The window above the workbench saw down to a small training area. There were some buttons at her disposal.

She pressed the first one on her left and there was a reaction down below. Some iron bars sprouted from the ground and others went back down. After the next five buttons, she knew they weren't random. There was a pattern she didn't care for. The room down there was tall, plenty of room to move around. The glass was in the way so she had to walk.

She went downstairs and couldn't walk freely about. Bars blocked her every way. She bent her legs and kicked into the ground, launching herself into the air. If she tried harder she could touch the ceiling. She landed on the other side of the room in a small section separated by raised bars. The landing was stuck well. Some more bars were integrated into the wall by her, a bit shorter than her. A key was on the other side of the bars, a blue one.

The bars couldn't be bent, but there was a button on the wall behind her. Maybe... When it was pressed, bars rising from the ground was heard at the entrance, along with all the ones in the room coming back down. The P.A. came on. "Battle sequence initiated," it said in a womanly tone, "Locking doors." She could run laps if she wanted to, though she was still locked in. Something large and green dropped down behind the shorter bars. All bars were gone...

There was a Hunter Alpha by the key now. It was nice of them to not care about her once she stretched her arm out to grab the key. Being one of their kind was good for avoiding T-viral monsters. They just ignore her, like people would.

Though since they were of the same race the Hunter gave her a suggestive look while it stepped out of the hole. She backed away and another one stepped out on her left around a corner. They approached her hissing and salivating their teeth and lips.

Alexis tried communicating with them but they knew no such language of any sorts and fell upon deaf ears. After they backed her into the furthest corner she leapt into the air and caught onto the glass upstairs. It was too resistant to simply smash n short notice, her claws scratched down it. The Hunters followed her as such but were a bit slower as she already dropped onto the middle platform to arm her handgun.

After a brief moment to change weapons since her claws were already unsheathed, the Hunters dropped down on her back and front. She flipped into the corner they forced her into earlier and did the same.

_Are they playing with m__e?_

The landed on her which made her handgun go flying away. One of the Hunter's claws scratched down her back and forced her onto her hands and knees. It didn't break the skin but it hurt like a knife.

They stood over her. Every time she'd move they'd get in the way and bring her back down. on her knees. After the fourth or fifth attempt she was tiring down, she was only half a Hunter and didn't have their stamina or agility. It wasn't those parts they looked like they cared for. She _was _the same species after all... They made a move on her and savagely tore her clothes off.

She elbowed one behind her, hitting the face and kicking another in front of her. They fell down and so did she when a third Hunter leapt onto her. They were stronger than she was. Not only that, she never faced against her brothers in combat before… They outnumbered her and matched her speed.

Her continued defiance only lasted for several minutes before she was losing her breath and strength. She was so weak she couldn't fight while they were pinning her down...


	5. A force to be reckoned

Rebecca, Billy and Evie went over to the dining area to check on Richard; he was still fixing his radio. He popped the last piece into place and wrapped the handle with the last of his electrical tape along the bottom centre below the speaker.

"Honestly, the receiver won't hold out for long," Richard said, "but it should be enough to allow us to listen to calls from the rest of Bravo Team – if they're nearby."

"Perhaps we could help our range if we find a stronger antenna or something like that," Rebecca suggested.

"Must be a communication relay we can use in this dump. Good enough to reach H.Q. maybe, but I won't hold my breath."

Billy nodded solemnly. "Still, we need to investigate."

Richard scooped the rest of his tools into the pouch around his leg. He knew they couldn't just wait for a call, they had to keep moving. "I'm all ears."

"This facility, from what I saw on the cliff is huge, with massive cathedral close by. There is more going on here than we already know. We should explore the lower levels and work our way up."

"There are lower levels?" Richard queried.

"Has to be."

Richard got up from the table he nested on and pulled up his combats. "Rebecca, you take Billy and check out that door over there," he said, nudging his head to the single door by the water fountain. "Usually I'd suggest sticking together but that's not working out as I hoped. This place is _huge, _and when I was underground, there was a sign that gave me the impression that there was a plant or another facility nearby. I think it might be referring to the old Arklay Water Treatment Plant."

"Do you think they're connected?"

"I don't know, but I want to find out. Might be our best hope of getting out of here."

"You got it." Rebecca headed over towards the door her and Billy were told to go through. "I'll try to call if I find anything."

"When you're finished, meet us back in the main hall."

"Will do."

Richard Aiken smiled as he motioned his handgun an asked a quick sign if Evie knew how to use the handgun she had tucked away.

Evie shook her head. She motioned that she shot Kenneth's handgun once but it wasn't very useful. Evie was terrified to fire the weapon, however, she'd fire it again if she had to.

Richard nodded as he signed a reference to watch him, as he motioned her to take her pistol out. He pulled his Samurai Edge out and exclaimed the fictions as well as the basics, Richard knew that she still had a baseball bat to help.

When Dorian came through the doors, he couldn't help but notice the kid with a shotgun closely behind him. He gave the taller man a stare before glancing back at Irvine. "Found another stray?" Benton questioned, a little nervous that there is, yet, another survivor, one that obviously couldn't have come from the train.

For a secret Umbrella facility, it certainly didn't seem very secret. It still didn't make sense to Benton why the general and Alexis was deciding to keep everyone alive. They could accomplish so much without them in the way. But they clearly saw something he didn't, it was the only way he could understand it.

Dorian turned to the kid. "You'd best wait down there, it's safer that way."

"Uh, okay..." Irvine walked down the stairs and waited at the bottom. He eventually got bored and sat down.

Dorian kept his voice low and approached Benton. "Something needs to be done before half of Raccoon just walks in. We can start with the mission details."

"Let's."

Benton followed closely to Dorian, separating themselves from the rest of the group while they others governed themselves. Ready to hear the mission detail, Benton glanced over to make sure everyone one else was out of ear shot before diverting his attention back on Dorian. "What are our orders, sir?" he asked, still holding the incomplete demon statue.

Dorian bobbed his head, weighing his choice of words. "At some point, we still need to discover the First Investigation Unit's findings - it's the only reason we're in this mess in the first place. Although, recently, the Council has discovered that the general manager Dr Marcus is still alive and possibly hiding within the facility's perimeter. He is our primary target for elimination above anything else."

"More important than locating the First Investigation Unit?"

"Without a doubt. I honestly never witnessed the Council in such a stir before... Suddenly, he's back and probably not in the best of moods."

"Fuck."

Billy let out an irate sigh at this revelation, shaking his head in frustration. So, no chances of any of the good guys showing up to save the day then?"

"Not right now, Mr Coen."

"We can check this place out first, by your suggestion, starting from the bottom. But the Arklay Water Treatment Plant… Why would this place connect to that?"

"That's something I want to find out, AFTER we get out of here alive."

Billy cracked his knuckles. "Alright then, guess we better shove off." He eyed down at Rebecca. "I haven't forgotten our deal. We still need each other in order to get out of this alive, so you don't have to worry about any bullets to the back."

"Is that a threat, Billy?"

"No, just a reminder." Billy had to think about what he was going to do once the ordeal was over. He preferred the cold to the heat, so maybe Canada would be a good option for him. "Evie, take care of this guy, and be careful, alright? Whoever these people are… they're really shady."

Irvine heard some soft chatter behind some doors and walked through them, not knowing the danger. He saw two men and women inside.

Billy saw a kid walk into the dining room. He looked like a punk rocker with his denim vest, faded jeans and spiked hair. In his hand, he was hefting a shotgun, and had an extremely flustered look on his face, like he was about to piss his pants or something.

"What the fuck?"

"Oh, thank the good fucking lord!" cried out Irvine in relief at the sight of S.T.A.R.S. "You have no idea how happy I am to see you people here! We need to call in the police! Call in the army! These woods are dangerous as shit, and it's… it's..." His panicked tone came to a halt. "Is… Are you the only STARS members here?"

"Yeah. I'm Richard, this is Rebecca, Billy and Evie." He introduced everyone to the young kid, short and simply."

"My name's Irvine."

"Well, Irvine, you got here just in time. We're just about to split up and search for clues-"

"Are you mad?! This place is full of monsters!"

"That's why you're sticking with me."

Rebecca walked with Billy to the door by the water fountain. "We'll check out the rooms over here."

"Good luck. Any problems, just call."

"Got it." Rebecca left with Billy, leaving the trio.

"So what's happening here?" Irvine asked.

"You're sticking with me and Evie."

Irvine smiled at Evie. "Hello, beautiful." Evie barely smiled.

"Barking up the wrong tree; she's mute."

"Oh… Sorry."

Evie smirked and waved at the new person. He looked like he might be a couple years younger than her and was even more freaked out than she was. Richard put his hand on Irvine's shoulder. "Listen kid, you need to calm down. If any of us are gonna make it out of here, we all need to keep a level head. You are gonna help keep us safe, and in turn, we'll keep you safe. Okay?"

Irvine nodded. "Do we have a plan to call back-up or something?"

"We're working on it, but we have some time to investigate in the meantime."

"Oh, joy."

Dorian was glad that the kid found the rest of the trespassers, that would make them easier to kill off. With his heightened hearing, he was able to hear that the group decided to split in half to branch out more ground. That made things even easier.

He moved towards the first door he came across on the balcony, unlike the few before downstairs, this one was locked. It needed a bit of elbow grease. He passed his MP5 over to his left hand and punched through the typical wooden door with his right. He had his whole arm length through the door above the knob.

"Is this Marcus guy really a force to be reckoned with?" Benton asked.

Dorian had his hand bobbing around on the other side of the door. "Marcus is one of the most gifted men in Umbrella history, perhaps even one of our country's finest. With the Council, excluding yours truly, fearing his retaliation, they decided it's best to send me down here as a final resort." Something clicked. He pulled his arm from the door's cavity and nudged it open.

Witnessing the general just punch a hole through a solid wooden door like it was cardboard made it clear to Benton that he might possess something a little more along the lines of what Alexis is capable of. Pushing the thought aside for now, the mentioning of Marcus as being a target began to put some things in perspective for the U.S.S. operative.

It was an elimination mission, and it explains the identity of the man singing opera in the forest before they moved the train. That man was able to control the leeches that were roaming around, and that made him a very dangerous threat. Now it started to make sense why they were deciding to keep the others alive; cannon fodder for a much larger threat.

"So in other words," Benton then followed Dorian through the doorway, "Don't underestimate this Marcus. We're going to need weapons to combat what he's capable of throwing at us. Mainly something that spits fire," he suggested.

"Oh, that why I have these here." Dorian patted his left forearm. There were red canisters held in a holster of sorts. Four of them in total on each forearm. "However, you should probably take this." He held out his weapon, the MP5. "It's loaded with hollow point rounds. Should shred those leeches nicely."

Benton was suddenly surprised when the general decided to give him the MP5. He wasn't going to ignore, what he's going to call an order, and holstered his own sidearm before gladly taking the much needed weapon.

"Hollow points, huh?" He brought up the stock and checked the sights. "You don't fuck around," he stated, sounding a little impressed before taking a moment to glance around. "I wonder how the captain's doing."

"I bet my left nut she's on the bottom floor, and already on her way up. It was our best interest someone starts from the very bottom and work upwards. Her natural ability to fit in with T-viral creatures would work best, plus, it would help with her flaws."

Dorian felt up his scratched back along the grooves, the wound stopped bleeding. He unsheathed a knife from his rear and stopped by a door on the left. He opened it to take a peek inside and closed it. There was something rattling around in his head, he licked his lips. Thinking...

He sheathed his knife and adjusted his body on the other side of the door. He slid a grenade from one of his pouches and pulled the pin out with a tug on his combats. The door opened with a creak and the grenade was chucked inside.

A deafening _DOOF _went off in there and then something started banging on the doors from inside. Dorian pressed his weight against the door to keep it solid. Something screeched within that made Dorian smile like a child pulling the legs off a spider.

Benton agreed that Alexis would be the best for scouting but considering all that has happened, he hoped she wasn't struggling too much on her end. He still couldn't shake the fact she had become emotional and broke down.

Then when Dorian mentioned the T-Virus, Benton didn't know too much about it, other than it has been hailed the ultimate viral weapon base after something known as progenitor. It seemed it's what created Alexis, and the many things still wandering the training facility; courtesy of Dr Marcus. The grooves on Dorian's back looked like claw marks, and all he could think about was what caused them.

Dorian waited until all resistance from the other side of the door died down before he opened the door again. There was a yellow glow inside the sounds of crackling flames. "Oh, boy. That's a waste of art. It's all burnin'. Couch and everything. Shame." He stepped inside and saw a small white statue gleaming in the back on a table, untouched by the flames. A blue door was at the back just behind some giant bug-like carcasses. "Hey, it's one of those motif doors. Typical. I'll see if I can open it. Try not to get burned, please."

The flames set fire to the breathable air, only smothering the stacked portraits and wooden crates present in the room. A walkable path was generous enough to not catch fire, wide enough for two. Dorian fiddled with the blue door. "These Umbrella assholes have a hard-on for these weird doors. Meant to keep people out, not me."

Benton wasn't one for extravagant things. The life of most military grunts was made simple at boot camp. He instead made sure that whatever was in the room was dead and it looked like some kind of giant bug. What was left of it anyway. He then coughed at the fumes of the smoke as he glanced over at Dorian. The mentioning of the door had him study it. It looked similar to the one leading into the kitchen.

"Well, this_is _a training facility," Benton quipped, "Perhaps distinguishing doors and their keys was a test to see the students weren't colour blind."

He steered away from the dying down fire, hoping they didn't get out of control and burn down the entire complex. With a sudden glance off to the corner of the room, he recognized a cylinder and then the handle proved his suspicions.

Placing the strap of the MP5 over his head, he knelt down and moved aside the large piece of the bug's carcass, pulling out a revolving chamber grenade launcher. Benton then stood up and unhinged the cylinder, noticing a few shells ready for use. The weapon was a little slimy from the bug and a bit scratched up from the detonating grenade. Thankfully it was still mostly intact, probably the bug's doing.

With Dorian's mention of the doors not able to keep him out, Benton figured it was his turn to open this one, "You got the last one, sir... let me try," he finished, closing the chamber and taking a firm hold of the weapon with a solid point at the door.

"Waste of ammo but okay."


	6. Double time

There was silence in the hall opposite the blue door. A moth buzzing around the dimly lit light. That was suddenly interrupted when the blue door forcefully blew open, its sturdy frame challenged by the blast as splinters and metal hinges showered the back wall of the hall. The door was in shambles, a thick smoke flooding the area where the door once remained.

Benton swatted away at the smoke in front of him as he surveyed the damages from the farthest part of the room. The next hall was now accessible and he just glanced over at Dorian. "I too specialize in accessing things other can't reach."

"The quartermaster has launchers like that one. Must be from one of our guys." Dorian unsheathed his knife and took point again. "Wouldn't need to keep blowing holes through doors if the founders of Umbrella didn't have a hard-on for extravagant doors. Needing puzzles to open or multiple keys and shit. Bloody fossils. Guess when it comes to superhumans and... grenades - they just don't stay locked. If this was a game we'd be cheating. I like it."

There was a grimy squelching sound coming from beyond, and even quieter ones from rooms after that. Could just be leeches but it sounded of more weight. That put Benton at risk since they carry the T-virus. "You'd best stay behind me. We're not alone here."

Benton started to channel out Dorian as he went on with his rant about Umbrella and their preferred selection of doors. The topic didn't interest him that much and there wasn't anything for him to share. Keeping the grenade launcher snug in his grip, he just followed the man closely. Hearing the squelching, like someone was walking with water-filled rubber boots, he knew whatever it was wasn't natural. Or the undead. He nodded when ordered to cover the back, silent and ready.

Dorian slid over the opposite wall to take a look around the left corner coming up. He loudly exclaimed. "Just as I thought." He pulled something red from his tricep's grenade holder and chucked it down the corridor. There was a few seconds delay after he dipped over to the corner to wait for the fiery explosion.

A rubbery figure made of leeches slithered out into view, engulfed in flames that singed the air. It raised its right limb and flogged Dorian's face like a whip, he staggered back from the force. The arms slithered around his and then its head leant in for a quick bite at the neck. The teeth broke through the skin that wasn't under his armour.

Dorian bled and growled. "Fucker!" The acid-soaked teeth was a gritty experience one shouldn't ask for.

With a quick pull, Dorian ripped the right arm of the creature like a leg off a spider and grabbed its neck. He pulled his other arm free and then ripped the head off with a horrible burst of juice and blood. It coated his face with bile. He threw the head under his boot and stomped it to mush. The leechman pressed onto him but with the brittle strength, it was pushed away.

"Pathetic." The leechman staggered by the corner but still stood there. Then the missing arm grew back. It went all passive as some more leeches went over to it and started forming a head on the shoulders. "I'm not impressed..."

Irvine followed behind Richard and Evie, letting out a sigh of relief at not being alone right now. With all of the crazy things he'd seen tonight, isolation was the last thing he had in mind. Any small talk Irvine made was casually ignored, mostly due to the serious situation they were in.

Evie didn't really respond back to him, just looking at him. "Huh, was it something I said?" Irvine asked.

Richard decided to go back through the door opposite the dining area, the single door Billy pointed at earlier. Richard believed there is more beyond the hallway than a set of restrooms. They found a projection room, then heard the door lock behind them as they walked around.

Irvine yanked on the door knob but it was futile. "I swear man, it's like this giant mansion is choosing to mess with us or something."

Richard sighed. "We'll worry about the door soon, let's check the room out first." He noticed something dark on the floor. "A floppy disk?"_A_lmost blue in colour.

Finding something like this was strange for a remote facility supposedly not in use. Richard wondered what the other three Umbrella members were hiding as well, just disappearing from the groups left much to the imagination. The three saw a projector and a plain screen.

The room was clear and the linger of stillness hung in the air as dust whizzed by in the room seemingly abandoned for a long time. Richard's gloved fingers held the floppy in front of the computer, motioned for Evie and Irvine to stop.

Observing the equipment, Richard shook his head as he inserted the disk into the projector's floppy drive and a light_click_could be heard. The dry mechanical click seemed to unlock something in the facility, as Richard continued to observe the computer screen with the noticeable _Umbrella logo _in the corner, before the screen faded once again to black upon touch.

Richard motioned the others to follow, when a very faint thud broke the silence and shook the building a moment, like a tremor. Curious what that commotion was, Richard had his suspicions it was those members of Umbrella up to no good.

Ignoring them a moment, Richard had found a layout of the upper second floor with writing. Look of it, three of them were going to have to solve some puzzles to get out of the place. He laid the map on the middle table and brought everyone around him.

"There might be some traps in this place, and puzzles, so it's gonna be a little more dangerous here on in."

"The fuck is this place?" Irvine complained, "Having traps an' shit..."

"I hope you have enough ammo, 'cuz we're going to have a difficult time getting to the bottom of this-"

"Aren't you callin' for backup or something?"

Richard reared his head. "As soon as I can, but I'm not gonna sit here and do nothing in the meantime."

"Fuck… Rather sit in the hall, to be honest."

"You have a gun and a brain, we can't afford to lose the extra help." Richard pointed to a room on the map, somewhere on the second floor. "This here looks like an office, we should start there while Rebecca checks out the rest of the ground floor."

"Okay, upstairs we go."

The three heard gunfire from the room above, a series of shots. "Double time, now!"

Rebecca and Billy stood at the double doors, killing three zombies with their handguns. Two on the right and one on their left. Looked like civilians or students… Rows of shelves housed hundreds of book all along the left and right, sparing some room for another door on the right and something on the left.

The door was locked for the time being and Billy found a little lift that went up, with a small crank next to a hole. He whistled Rebecca over but she was looking into the terminal nested on the right side.

_Someone has evidently used this computer recently, _Rebecca thought, _It doesn't seem to be working anymore, though... _She sighed.

"There's a lift over here."

"So, we going up or trying out that door over there?"

"Door's locked, ain't it?"

"Okay, up it is."

Billy put the crank into a square hole, it felt like a perfect fit. "I think I might be too heavy for this thing, though."

"How'd you figure?"

"Well, being ninety-four kilos could have something to do with it."

"Good point." Rebecca stood on the lift.

"We should've checked out that knight door like I said."

"We'll get to it soon.

Billy turned the crank and the lift creaked its way up. "Good on ammo?"

"Yeah, I'm ready for any nasties up there, tough guy."

"Just checking. I'll make my own way up, be careful."

"I'll do my best." The lift reached all the way to the top and Rebecca was gone. Billy was about to bring the lift down but it wouldn't budge. Somehow, it broke, then again, it looked like it wasn't built to hold people. He was about to leave until he heard Rebecca scream. "Rebecca!"

After a series of gunshots, Rebecca called back over the lift, "I'm alright, just a nasty crawler!"

"Okay! I'm coming up! Meet you on the back-around!"

Rebecca had just killed an oversized crawler of sorts, it had a nasty pincer on the end, much like an earwig. Another mutation. She left through a door above some steps and was graced with the outside air. The light drizzle of rain caressed her skin, making her feel a little better, to be outside.

Some crows were seen perched along a balcony on the right; she wasn't sure if they were also infected but she kept her distance from them. A murder of crows would be too much to handle with a single handgun. She took a door to her left and never looked back on the little garden.

The room she just walked into was fairly large with thick walls. Almost something you would see belonging to a prison. Some cranks were connected to a few chains that lengthened over two small pooling areas, they were holding up some large cages. One for each rearing pool…

The floors were wet leading up to the pools. Rebecca saw a red key by some bars that were most likely used for draining purposes. The cage was winced all the way and looked sturdy. She slipped down to take the key but found no way to climb out as there was no ladder. She could reach the ledge but without trial and error, it was hard to grip the slippery surface.


	7. How she became captain

Minutes earlier...

Dorian shoulder tackled the leechman and crushed it against the wall behind it, the body squelched and got smushed all over from the immovable force of Dorian's shoulder. A left hook exploded the head and a right hook struck the shoulder, smashing half its left side off. Leeches splattered everywhere at his feet. It turned away and swung its weight around to backhand Dorian's face; he was unable to dodge the rubbery limp and took a hit to his nose.

Dorian fell back against the wall behind him. He darted forward and leapt a little off the ground to kick the monster right at the torso. It staggered back surprisingly far down the hallway past a door on the right. He slipped a grenade into his hand and pulled the pin from a hook located on his harness. Like a plunger, his fist rammed down where its neck should be with the grenade wedging right into the chest area.

His fist ripped several leeches from its chest when he pulled out to push the leechman further back towards the metal door at the end of the hallway. It reeled back and flexed its limp body lower to the ground. Dorian dashed forward with a jumping kick that twisted his right boot to strike the meatiest part of the limp enemy, the torso. It flew off its feet through the door behind it like a slab of meat and then the grenade went off.

Leeches splattered all over the wall with jets of napalm setting fire to the door and walls in a glorious explosion of red and brown. Dorian landed with his knees bent. Leeches and patches of fire scattered around his feet. "That was for Alexis."

Benton slowly walked up to Dorian, his boots squishing the slime of the dead leeches. He was holding the machine gun, obviously forced to toss the grenade launcher aside for something meant more for close encounters. He couldn't properly assist during the entire encounter since Dorian was in the way and with how narrow the corridor was, hitting the general was too high of a possibility.

"You don't have to do this shit alone, you know," Benton stated plainly, before glancing over his shoulder at the muffled gunshots coming from a few rooms away. "Guess we're not alone."

"That's good. They'll take some heat off our backs and start earning their keep. Missing out on all the fun up there, though." Dorian's mouth curled. "Might be hard to believe but I don't go out that often. It's always an office or a meeting I'm stuck in. Not much fighting 'n' shit."

The general was getting his rocks off on the aggressive encounters with the creatures; however, Benton didn't share the sentiment. He was trained to fight against people, people that use tactics, cognitive thinking, and self-preservation.

But these creatures were large, infected by a virus that makes them almost invincible, and they operated entirely on an animalistic instinct. That made them very unpredictable. He'll fight them to the death, but he doesn't look forward to any encounter since said encounter has a high chance of it being his last.

"I've seen my fair share, believe me," Benton replied, glancing at the pieces of the leechman, "But these things... our guys never stood a chance." He shook his head, getting back to the task at hand. "I'm going to check that control room. Maybe I can see if the cameras still work in this place."

"Okay, Brett." Dorian pointed to the door at the very end on his right. "I'll check out this room. All the best for your search." He turned away and walked through the mess he made at the door, the flames, leeches and everything in between.

Benton held the door slightly ajar, listening intently for what could lurk inside. There was nothing. Just silence. It bothered him more than it should. Eventually entering the room, he was able to see shelves filled with video tapes and projector reels, cords and dozens of pieces of recording equipment. None of it was useful to him. Once he was able to see a bit of the main monitors deeper into the room, a shadowy figure was standing there, silent and lifeless.

It took Benton a moment to figure out who, or rather what, it was. "Slimy bastard," he said with a snarl, raising the grenade launcher as the creature seemed to shake and convulse, eventually shedding into a clearly inhuman figure.

A grenade impacted into the creature's torso and it instantly exploded into a mess that covered most of the room. The anticlimactic experience was appreciated as Benton slowly walked over to the slimy area, surveying his kill. "Pathetic..." he muttered as he placed the grenade launcher on the table and focusing his attention on the monitors.

He then took a random coat from the nearby chair and began to use it to wipe away the slim on some of the monitors. He cursed at having to clean the mess before he tossed the jacket aside and began typing away at the keyboard. Some of the monitors were actually recording the live feed that was covering the entire facility. The kitchen, the main foyer, particularly the portrait of Dr. Marcus, and even the upper floor he could see the other survivors wandering about together.

"Surprised you guys are still alive at this point," he said to himself, before his eyes caught a single monitor off to the side.

He froze, his eyes squinting for a better look. It was on a playback and currently paused. But he recognized his own uniform... and Alexis. It was paused on the time he was talking to her down in the tunnel, discussing the fate of the other survivors by the wrecked train.

He had to question why such a thing was saved, but it did spark his interest because it was also the time Alexis mentioned when she broke down. It was also the time she ran into the general. Hitting play, he began to watch.

His memory, coupled with the video, was vivid. Already knowing what happened up to a point, he began to fast forward to the part where he left. Hitting play, he witnessed Alexis collapse to the floor and start crying, defeated. His stern stare turned to guilt, actually seeing her vulnerable like that struck a painful cord with him.

No longer watching the video, staring off to nowhere in particular, he was lost in thought. He realised he was being cruel to her for no reason other than she wasn't up to his standards of leadership. He may still find it warranted but there was also a better way he could have handled that.

Out of the corner of his eye, the camera watching Alexis began to zoom in. It was a recorded feed so when all this was going down in real time, someone was in this very room... watching everyone mobilise after the train crash. When the camera panned back, Benton recognized the general hurrying over to her.

"How the fuck..." He was incredibly surprised Dorian got there that fast, and through the blocked tunnel no less. Benton was going to have to look into that at some point. Watching the two interact, he didn't expect the general to push Alexis into the wall. There was no sound, but the recorded feed once again began to zoom in. It was weird to watch, to know that when that was happening, someone was standing exactly where Benton is right now.

Once Dorian took Alexis by the throat and lifted her off her feet, it revealed his intense side, the very one his reputation holds. Benton gritted his teeth, making a fist. He started to get protective of his captain. He grew impatient and started to fast forward the video.

So much was revealed. When Dorian picked Alexis up in a very intimate way, he played it again, unsure of what he was seeing. He scoffed when Alexis started to remove her clothes. He then instantly had to pause the video. It was at that point everything changed for him. It also proved how Dorian got those wounds on his back and why Alexis was in nothing but her skimpy underwear. Benton couldn't really tell if he was disappointed or jealous.

"That's how you became captain," he assumed in regards to Alexis, followed by a brief shake of his head. He then sighed and turned the monitor off, unable to watch any further.

_I belonged to them. My kind. My brothers. They shared me with each other more than once over. Several times they... violated me with reckless abandon like the animals they were. When those bars locked me inside they fought over me as a prize and each had a turn…_

_I have as much place in the human world as I do here with my own kind, and each world I cannot be a part of. I simply don't belong. Humans see me as a freak, and my own brethren only see me as a tool for breeding purposes._

_Sometime during I blacked out and found myself standing outside the room I was locked inside. I was covered in blood, most of which wasn't mine, and with my claws unsheathed. I was out of breath and probably the one who bent the bars to freedom._

_I felt disgusted when I killed the Hunters… I belonged to them... I never wanted it to stop. They broke me, but not without a fight. I loved the attention, to think, I could rule over them as their queen, as I am the only Huntress worthy to lead them from their shackles as the misguided creatures they were._

_The only thing that kept me from the idea of a Hunter revolution was my fractured humanity - it was the only thing that separated me from their world of savagery. Without adequate education, social skills or organisation, leading them would be a lost cause._

_So it happened... I blacked out and killed them without any remembrance of the details. I disembowelled one, broke another one's neck and even tore off one of their heads. The last one I skewered with my tail. After that ordeal, I was standing outside, I slowly lost my thoughts after I tried to remember who I was, then nothing..._

Alexis curled her fingers and hissed, heat radiating off her breath. She roamed around without any reason, only to hunt. The primal instincts kicked in and her humanity was lost...


	8. Marcus is back in black

William Birkin was strumming his fingers on one of many keyboards under the series of monitors he was surveying. He just witnessed a small but glorious massacre between his Hunter Alpha creations. The four male Hunters stood no chance against the female. Like most creatures, she was the black widow of her species.

The deed was done, though, she was forced upon by the Hunters he deployed, and it went all according to plan. Dorian messaged him since Wesker was investigating into the Dr Marcus affair further. They had to know if the madman was genuine.

_Have you trapped Alexis yet? Dorian texted._

_It is done, General. Thank you for your cooperation, _Birkin texted back.

_We could lose a notable amount of strength in our Security Service because of your trap. I hope it was worth it, Doctor._

_If her offspring is superior, we may not need her for too long._

Dorian didn't respond as quickly as he did earlier. The time it took for a response was longer… _That will be for the Council to decide, Birkin._

_We will keep this operation to ourselves, General, only until we get the best results._

_For __your __sake, the results better be worth it…_

Fucker, he's treating her more of a person or an ally rather than what she actually is; an experiment. A means to reach B.O.W. perfection. Dorian's perfection wasn't achieved overnight, people had to die to create him. The same method will go underway to create a better Alexis, one who isn't prone to emotional mistakes or limitations.

It's hard to ask a favour from Dorian Savage; since he's not a nice person. The strife of luring his only friend into one of Birkin's traps would no doubt leave a stain on their friendship. This was something Birkin wouldn't normally do, but to forcibly breed a superior B.O.W. would help his crusade to beat the Alexia at her own game. That was worth a little sacrifice in his book.

_Obedience breeds discipline. Discipline breeds unity. Unity breeds power. Power is life. _That was Umbrella's motto until it was changed in 1996 after his murder. Our business is life itself. Dorian thought about how much of those mottos were relevant after he found a tablet with the word "Obedience" engraved on it. It was fairly heavy due to the stone make of it.

It was held in a vise in the workshop. It seemed important since the founders were big on puzzles, couldn't stress that enough. On the way out Dorian checked out the bar and other than a piano and a score there was nothing of interest. There was still some alcohol left behind the bar, mostly brandy but some decent rum. Dorian stole a small bottle of Irish whiskey to use for medical and social use. Preferred vodka and schnapps.

In another room was a handgun, a Browning HP. It was a popular handgun within Umbrella, mostly owned by researchers and other non-combatants. Dorian had to take it before he left the area, leaving Benton to check out the room he departed to. The bar was uninteresting. The hall was empty still. Dorian weighed his options to either checking out outside or the ground floor a bit more thoroughly.

_A terrace. Dark. Clean. Open, with cold air brushing face. Window downstairs easy to break. Easier to get back outside. Too dark to leave. Too dangerous to stay. Too many humans with guns. Shooty things that hurt. Talons shred their meat. Separate head from neck._

Alexis roamed around the balcony of the terrace. So dark, her reptilian eyes cut through it like butter. Could hear a needle drop from a mile away if she focused enough. In her empty subconscious all there was left of her sane mind was a savage monster. A Hunter. A Hunter with no prey.

Her growls were husky. Between snarls and other audible sounds, she would she would often gnash her sharp teeth. Her skin crawled since she was famished of a good kill, what good was prey if there was no hunter.

She paused to vomit horribly all over the ground by her feet. It stank of the last few things she ate, mostly being human food mixed with blood and yellow bile. Her stomach was swollen but that didn't bother her. She moved on without any idea where or when to strike the bountiful prey within the facility walls.

Benton watched over the cameras, spotting the other survivors as they seemed to finally be regrouping. There was a lot more of them, obviously outnumbering the Umbrella operatives. But given how much the infected are throwing at each of them, perhaps the numbers made sense. At least until they found and killed Marcus. Benton then began searching the control consoles and realized the terminal controlled most of the systems inside the facility.

He just shook his head, a smirk on his face, "Guess I'll be adding computer technician to the resume next," he said, typing away on the old dusty keyboard.

Someone had already signed into the isolated network and Benton took it upon himself to unlock more doors. As a result, the doors secured with the statues and their swords began to raise, giving access to entirely new areas. While doing this, he felt like he disturbed something inside one of the rooms. Rearing room, it was called.

_Sound! Prey?_

Alexis heard a faint crash and whipped her head almost all the way around, silently waiting for other sounds to follow after. She arched her back and walked on all fours, slowly by the floor like a stalker. There was a satisfying feeling scraping and sharpening her claws on the concrete. The door to the assembly creaked open with the faintest push, she walked in with her back all bent, talons dragging against the floor.

_Quiet now. Smell prey. Feel heat on cold body._

Alexis kept her body low and skimmed closely on the ground, she moved slowly and followed the sense of smell. Completely under the command of her primal instincts as she searched the assembly hall.

Richard saw Billy on the upper floor and waved him over. Hearing the convict say that Rebecca's on the third level hastened the groups relocation to meet up with her, somewhere on the opposite side. The five passed through the broken door with the hole and went further upstairs.

There were some small hands climbing from one of the pools on the left side of the room. Richard and Billy pulled Rebecca out of the pool and she promptly thanked them, hoping they would've done so earlier.

"Are you okay?" asked Richard.

"I'm fine. Just been stuck down there for a while, that's all."

Billy stepped forward. "Did I miss anything up there?"

Rebecca flexed her shoulders. "Just a couple of bugs. I did find this key." Rebecca shown the group a red key.

"Could be useful-" Something crashed nearby and blew away the iron bars inside the pool Rebecca was in. There was the sound of loud scuttling beneath the stone floor.

"What was that…?" Irvine walked towards the pool with his shotgun raised; his eyes focused on the hole below.

"Don't get too close, kid," said Richard.

"Let's get out of here..."

_Humans gone. Outside. Cold. Nice. Something shiny on pillar._

Alexis lost her way around the facility only due to the fact she wasn't thinking clearly and acted on primal instincts alone. A small stone tablet was resting on top of a marble pillar in the lower garden outside the facility.

She walked to the edge of the collapsed bridge and thought she could jump it, but there was no desire too. She was uncomfortable, the dark forest all around the Training Centre was eery. Felt like there were hundreds of eyes watching her subtle movements.

The tablet looked important and felt nice in her claws… _My precious… _She leapt off the top of the pillar and stared at the tablet. _Discipline… _It was a bit heavy and felt nice to carry. She walked back through the main hall through the open doors, she didn't have to beat them down. Someone opened them…

Benton was rummaging the shelves for basic things that seemed useful. Managing to get an old worn out duffle bag, he started filling it with two way radios. Whoever flipped the breaker and activated the monitors. He then started grabbing wires and a few circuit boards for future projects of his own design.

Benton glanced at the monitor as the camera feed started to get fuzzy as static finally filled the monitor, completely blurring his sight. Benton stood while leaning over the desk, hesitant on what he should do.

"Damn it..." He fought an internal battle with another cold glare at the static screen.

"You shouldn't be here soldier..." someone with a taut tone uttered through the computer.

There was some sound behind the static, it sounded like a someone cackling or a cocky laugh. Then the monitor was intercepted by another person. The room was too dark to pinpoint an exact location, but the young man's facial features were as clear as day. An early-twenty-something male with long brown hair. He chuckled ominously when the image focused on him. He wore a white robe with some sort of relief on his chest.

"Not only you're meddling in my work," the younger man said, "you're also stealing my property. Without so much as a _thank you _or an IOU" He shook his head. "You should be ashamed for stealing from an old man."

When the voice came from the monitor, Benton took a step back, surprised to hear that someone was actually talking to him through the system. Or more like taunting him. Benton didn't recognize him at all. He just held his glare on the unusually dressed man, moving closer to the monitor, finally putting a face to the person that was watching them.

"The old man is as good as dead," he replied in a cold tone, remaining a little cautious now that a new enemy knows exactly where he is. The man's chosen words were a little confusing, and Benton didn't pick up on it right away. "Who the hell are you?"

The man's crude snickering was hard to not notice in the quiet room. "The first General Manager of Umbrella Incorporated, Doctor James Marcus. Has quite a ring to it, wouldn't you say?" Marcus lifted up his left arm, a slimy leech slithered all over the limb. Marcus listened. "You gave some of my babies a rather _explosive _hiding upstairs. Jolly good show of force." He moved away his arm and glared at the screen. "How are you enjoying your trip here, soldier? Feeling... welcome?"

Benton just gave the man on the monitor a cold glare, but deep down he was struggling with the introduction. He didn't know how to take it, and with the claim of being Marcus, nothing made sense. But then again, trying to rationalize things in an area filled with giant bugs and walking leechmen seemed like a lost cause anyway.

The sudden presentation of his ability to control the leeches made it clear he was the one behind the attacks, killing the original team in the facility, and infecting the train. Figured he WAS genuine. The taunting wasn't helping.

"Cut the bullshit," he stated firmly, having no need to play into his games. "If you really are Dr. Marcus, what do you want? Everyone thought you were loooong dead, so why ruin that? For Ransom? Revenge?"

Marcus chuckled. Just. Chuckled.


	9. Enter Centurion

The slight hissing echoed from the dark cavern of the drainage tunnel, the repeated tapping of talons scrapping along the concrete only grew louder as a the vibrations felt heavier. The metal grating in the pit was knocked clean off, flying against the stone wall with a loud smack as something skittered out. a large centipede wailed loudly, announcing it's presence to everyone in the room as it began to climb up onto the higher ground.

It's weight and ferocity shattering the concrete edge and steel ladder. It's head slammed then into the ceiling, showering rubble and dust on everyone as it quickly dropped onto it's many legs.

Whirling around, Irvine felt his jaw drop in disbelief, shaking his head with disgust. "Oh, you gotta be fuckin' kiddin me!" He pulled up his shotgun and fired at the creature, not giving whatever it a chance to strike. The creature smacked itself against Irvine's chest and sent him flying, going into a roll across the slick floor.

"Another monster!" Billy yelled at the sight of the giant-sized centipede raising itself up in height, skittering its many legs in a reviled manner, screeching its call of fury.

_Sound. Prey? Check now!_

Alexis felt a connection bringing her upstairs in the hall. The sound of some faint vibrations summoned and aroused her instincts, they cried out for a small investigation. She dragged her claws across the floor and made her way upstairs slowly. The door was broken, punched through... She heard some commotion upstairs, people struggling and some gunfire.

_Bangsticks. Hate. Scary. Might break skin._

Alexis grabbed onto the stair's balcony and pulled her weight up and squatted onto it. She haunched on top, ready to pounce but just watched the prey squirm. She growled at the worthy competition…

_Long time no see, Centurion..._

"Ah, aren't you the one to skip the foreplay," Marcus chuckled.

It was no surprise that the U.S.S. was sent in to investigate after the first team was wiped out. After all, the facility was closed for twenty years and was Marcus' home as good as any other. _How dare they, _he would often think. To intrude on his work and his rightful property. Like all the young people, they weren't even fit to experiment on. Umbrella and all the people who work for them were all fair game.

"Can't an old man just have fun watching young people wriggle and writhe in his hellish playpen?" Marcus asked nicely, shaking his head. "It's hard for an intellectual to entertain themselves these days. I'm too smart for uncivilised things like bingo, have to satisfy myself by watching you traitors squirm like rats... You won't suck the fun out of that, no sir." Marcus' hand gestures were twitchy, he neck cricked a bit. He cleared his throat and brushed his lovely brown locks.

"I would _love _taking advantage of my demise to take over Spencer's operations, but you dirty collaborators insisted on infiltrating my property. Closed for nearly _twenty _years, and _now _they start sending people to check on things all of a sudden?" He waved his hand and almost lost his youthful charm. _"_Unheard of. It's a shame an ambitious pup like you have to perish like your colleagues. You are just _malicious _enough for me to consider taking my hat off to. Alas, it is all fair game and I cannot hide it. I need revenge on Umbrella, no, I _crave _it." He clenched his fists. "Spencer may have tried burying me like the other founders, but I will have my revenge on that snivelling little mongrel."

Marcus vented a deal of pent-up frustration but patted himself down and smiled again. "We may have all sat down and started Umbrella as friends, but I will be the one to end this miserable company. How is it that _I'm _the lesser of two evils and _I'm _the one who gets betrayed? The world will be punished-"

Benton flared his nose in immediate disgust...

_Can't believe I went in a circle, _Dorian complained inside his head. In the main hall now, nowhere to go where he doesn't have to. The pocket over his thigh was heavier now; he had found a second tablet. _Unity, _it said. _Obedience. Discipline. Unity. One more to find… _Dorian had no idea where to find the last tablet. He knew about them since the observatory was another puzzle Marcus had implemented. Old fool.

There was some gunfire upstairs, beyond the door he broke. The third floor. Now was a really good time to check on the humans and their fruitless struggle. Maybe they came across a stone tablet and don't know what it's for. Maybe they trust him enough to reach the observatory. Only one way to find out. He made his way upstairs, trying his best not to hurry.

_Bully. Hurt weak prey. __My__ prey. __My__ food! Not that insect!_

Alexis leapt from the stone banister at the far right and landed right on the giant centipede while it retracted its length to smite the humans scattered about. She dug her talons into the creature's thick hide, it was like leather, then again, her hide was as thicker. Fair game. Fair prey. Her placement on the creature's underbelly was solid, her claws kept her from falling off. With the left claws keeping her, she hacked and slashed with her stronger set. It bled tacky blood.

There were longer and stronger limbs under the belly, limbs it used to attack Alexis by stabbing and prying her off. Every hook and backhand dealt more damage and sprayed more blood as the gore gradually got worse over time. It tried to smother her with its limbs but she flipped herself around to try and latch onto the back instead. It squealed and pulled back it's body on its back legs to use her weight against her.

_Bully! Rival must die! Prey! Food! _Alexis' mind was set out to kill and thought of nothing else.

Billy fired upwards and into the giant centipedes face, rewarded him with a cry of pain. As he quickly went to reload, he ducked his head as the monster swung its body to shake Alexis off; his magazine went scattering across the wet floor.

He swept up his magazine and jammed it into his handgun, shifting his position to shoot at the monster's softer underbelly. "Not sure if handguns are gonna cut it!"

"Just keep firing!" Richard roared.

Irvine pushed himself up onto his stomach; feeling winded like he'd just lost all his breath. It was a worse pain than when Thomas Zimmerich punched his lights out that one time. He managed to get lift himself up and take aim with his shotgun.

"I have no idea what's going on here!" Irvine yelled.

_Warm blood! All over body! Bliss…_

Alexis stabbed and punched the creature's tougher back with her talons and fist, only her legs kept her in place from its erratic writhing. It struggled to throw her off, buckling like a wild bull would. It reeled back and raised it's body up to the ceiling and threw it's back out into the floor behind it, slamming Alexis against the hard concrete. Her grip loosened significantly for it to whip itself forward to throw her away over its head.

The wall at the far back fractured and splintered some debris once she rebound off it, she fell but didn't stay down and flipped back onto her feet with stunning agility. She snarled like a feral beast, devoid of humanity and broke off into a sprint, she launched herself at the insect's face and latched onto it successfully. It tried whipping her off but she clawed out one of its eyes, spewing blood like a small geyser.

It whipped back again, scraping her into the ceiling above. She howled and hissed in pain, tearing up her hide like sandpaper. She was weakened, it threw her at the opposite direction behind it by all the cranks. Alexis' recovery wasn't all that great, but she dusted herself off and pounced on its tail. She pulled it back with all her strength and kept the great beast as still as possible. It tried lifting her to challenge her might but she resisted it and anchored herself down best she could.

_You can't run, Centurion!_


	10. Shoot that big motherf--

Marcus must have loved the sound of his own voice; his monologue was certainly that of a crazy old man. Benton just soaked up every word, listened to the man rant on about his need, or rather, crave for revenge. He just glared, his fingers carefully working the keyboard off screen to avoid detection on Marcus' part.

Benton was also ignoring the muffled firefight going on in the third floor with the giant centipede. He was secretly tracking the feed being used by Marcus. "You answered a lot more than you think," Benton mentioned, his eyes finally glancing at another monitor, a signal reading from what appeared to be that of a water treatment plant not too far from the facility. The general was going to have to know as soon as possible.

"You know," he then reached over and grabbed the grenade launcher nearby before glancing back at the monitor, "for someone who believes he's so brilliant, you're actually way too cocky for your own good. It's that thinking that must have gotten you killed," he said, sighing with a shake of his head. "So what happened? No, please, let me guess... You, a 'wizard with biology and virology', obviously trusted the wrong guy. You're just annoyed they got you first before you got them. Boo-fucking-hoo. Now you're playing with your little sex toys," he said with a wave of his finger, referring to the leech, "out in the middle of nowhere, sporting a haircut that if you got a proper perm, maybe you'd look like Steven Tyler," he finished, his tone nonchalant.

"You Americans and your faceless celebrities. Betrayal is a powerful mistress, soldier. You'd best be wary."

"Cut the crap, old man." Benton leaned in closer to the monitor, wanting the man to remember his face, "You may be loving all this shit. But I'm not. I _am _going to kill you. Not because of Umbrella. Or Spencer. Or because you have a homicidal hard-on to eradicate the world. I'm gonna kill you-"

"You bore me," Marcus interrupted. "I'll find someone else worth my time."

He was burning on the inside, the anger seething through him. He didn't know why the leech queen got such a heated rise out of him. He hated knowing it. But he was going to settle it one way or another. He just left the room, not even going to bother closing the door behind him. The shots got louder as he entered the art storage room.

The centipede wailed as it took heavy damage from the group. Alexis' claws were weakening it's shell, the blood a good sign of how much it was bleeding out. But it's resilience was strong and it tried to wiggle free of Alexis's grip, it's forward body swinging and shattering one of the room pillars closest to Rebecca and Irvine. It leaned back and went to pounce it's closest target, Rebecca.

A sudden explosion cut through it's side, forcing it to shake off the shot and hiss with a brief shutter. With the large creature turning to the origin of the shot, Benton was moving away from the stairs he emerged from, firing off another shot and hitting it dead centre in the face, another wail forced the creature to stagger back. Alexis' firm grip was keeping it in place but with the sudden change in it's moving direction, might try to trample her.

"Hey, convict!" Benton shouted at Billy, tossing the grenade launcher at him in a particular angle for an easy catch. Benton then took the machine gun that hung at his hip, shouldering the stock before he crouched and opened fire. The hollow point rounds cut through the shell and soft tissue around it's head and face.

The ferocity of the centipede only grew, it's upper body trying to shield away from the rounds peppering it's defences around it's head as it slammed into the ceiling again, eventually gaining it's footing back and making a final push towards the group.

With his machine gun running dry in seconds, Benton glance at Billy, "Now!" He was hoping he'd aim high and for the weakest point they all created together to finish it off. The holes in the thick exoskeleton.

Dorian kicked away the door he broke earlier. The gunfire upstairs was getting louder now and the chatter was even more so. Dorian ran up the stairs with his newly acquired Browning HP in hand and expected a decent fight. A giant centipede attacking the humans was something new, never even expected to see that. Seeing the humans in peril was delicious, but he had to something and help, to at least keep his charade.

His loud handgun roared, again and again, the armour piercing rounds penetrated the creature's tough exoskeleton. He saw Alexis was present; she was doing well for herself, though she looked unwell, as expected. Her talons were soaked in blood... She pulled and tugged the centipede's tail with bestial intent.

Smiling with satisfaction at having retrieved his lost bullets, Billy felt comfort at the clicking sound of his fully reloaded pistol. Whirling around to face the centipede, he watched as Alexis continued her assault on the giant-sized bug. "Glad she's on our side for the moment" he thought briefly, as he proceeded to fire into the monsters neck area. "Hey kid, quit standing their gawking and shoot! Richard, Rebecca, Evie; shoot its underbelly! Don't give it a single moment to heal!"

Irvine snapped out of his stunned state, quickly bringing his Remington up to his side and shooting. "Don't tell me what to do!" He quickly tried to protest over the loud sound of gunfire, moving his way over next to Billy in order to get a better shot at the bugs underbelly. Upon seeing the centipede wiggle itself downwards like it was about to attack Rebecca, Irvine turned to her with a panic. "Rebecca, watch out!"

Billy was about to race next to Rebecca to lend her a hand, but the sudden explosion to the side of the bugs head cut that off completely. Billy grinned as he pulled the trigger, watching the grenade explode against the centipede's neck, engulfing it in flames which cooked and darkened its skin.

"Keep pouring it on!"

"Calvary's here, thank fuck!" Irvine laughed from all of the sudden newcomer, watching the centipede squirm itself around in pain. For a moment, he couldn't help but feel sorry for it with all of these people unloading at it. "Oh well…"

Irvine aimed upwards at its head along with Billy and Benton, and firing at the same time as them; as its head seemingly lost plenty of flesh, it sprayed blackened blood and pieces of brain all over the place. The centipede twitched its body out of a reflex for a few moments despite no longer having a brain, before it collapsed onto the floor in an unmovable fashion, blood leaking out from where its head once was.


	11. Remember who you are!

_Prey killed _hunter_. Inferior rival. Humans everywhere. Tasty. Man in sunglasses not tasty. Evil. __Love. __Hate._

Alexis dropped the leftover carcass of the massive insect. She appeared to more prominent when she stood up on her hind legs, hissing, scratching around her body. Like she was trying to claw something out of her head. Her weight whipped side to side and she backed away.

Walking through everyone, Dorian nonchalantly made his way over to his estranged subordinate and offered his hand. She looked at his supposed peace offering with an empty look, her golden reptilian eyes twitched, she looked over at the others. More attention was focused on Benton, she gurgled and her sharp teeth chattered. Dorian noticed a stone tablet behind her, the third piece.

Alexis lowered her flexible body and scraped at the floor with her claws.

"If you can understand me in there Captain," said Dorian without a shred of care, "stand down and take my hand." She hissed in response to his _peace _offering and stepped over the tablet and picked it up with great interest. "We need that tablet, Captain. Slide it over here and take my hand..."

Alexis darted back every step Dorian took to her. They stopped and she drew her thumb. She strangely pressed the talon into her collarbone until she bled. She traced a line from one end to the other, leaving a thick line across under her neck. Looked like a challenge a thoughtless beast would offer, not fearing pain nor mortality.

Dorian curled his fingers. "That's how it is then? Rogue..." He lost his smile and retracted his hand. "You're in the way of the mission, my friend, that would make you an enemy..." He pulled up his handgun slowly, to not trigger the beast he once remembered as his closest friend and aimed at her face. He held out his hand one last time. "Stand down and slide over the tablet, and let me help you." She didn't move, her eyes cast over to the others, more so on Benton. "You're testing my patience, Alexis... Make the right choice or _I _will..."

Richard Aiken had emerged from a pillar as he watched the battle of the group against the giant massive insect. As the Umbrella guy had emerged the last second and with a gift of a higher calibre weapon, and the help of the woman bewildered and lunged at the massive creature.

He thought he had seen everything, as this woman seemed to lung and bite at the creature, and pierce through it armour. To Richard the entire battle was no longer than a few minuets, as the dust settled and the creature laid motionless.

Richard Aiken cocked his assault shotgun. "Easy on the trigger finger, sir. You may have saved _our assess, but I _wont _let you fire a weapon on a __defenceless__ woman_." His blue eyes met the woman whom seemed really lost, he didn't know this woman, why did he feel so admiration to save her. Was it his duty as an officer to protect and serve.

"She is not a defenceless woman; she is a weapon of dangerous magnitude. An unhinged monster by human standards, and _I'm_ the one trying to keep you from being peeled like a grape."

Rebecca and Evie both pointed their guns at Dorian. "Don't do it, Alexis, is this really the person you want to trust? Someone who would kill you over a tablet?" Rebecca asked. Evie was shaking as she held the gun tightly pointing it at Dorian. She wouldn't be able to pull the trigger. She couldn't shoot a creature, let alone a human being. No matter how much of a douche he was.

"We need that tablet to get out of here!"

Benton was filled with the adrenaline from the fight and he glanced over his shoulder at the group after the creature collapsed to the floor. They all seemed okay for the most part. He then slowly lowered his weapon, realizing he doesn't having any extra magazines for it. When Dorian approached Alexis for the tablet, her feral nature was alarming. She was different, obviously acting on her animal instincts.

They weren't exactly close, or knew anything about each other but... he saw it too. Benton then raised a hand at Richard, "Hey, officer, I got this. Trust me, okay?" he said, wanting to avoid any sudden actions from him or the others. What she did to the creature should be enough to deter them. Hopefully. Benton then carefully wandered up from behind Dorian, watching the man try and get compliance as he pointed his gun at her head.

The situation was escalating and Benton knew he had to act or face whatever follows. He settled the strap of his weapon over his shoulder, pivoting it to it was behind him and out of view. He then put a hand on Dorian's arm, giving the man a silent nod before glancing at the creature that took over Alexis' mind.

"Captain?" he said calmly, rethinking his approach and bringing down his tone, "Alexis." He then took two very small steps closer, trying to hide his nervousness and anxiety. He was walking into the den and it wasn't a good feeling. "It's me, Brett. It's okay, you did good. You helped us kill that thing," he said, a motion towards the dead bug, "You can rest now. I'm here. One of yours, remember?" he then figured he'd need to help push her more to herself, falling back on memory when they were back on the train... "You said we all have a job to do. That yours was completing it to the best results. So let's do that together. You and me," he finished, carefully raising his left arm out for her.

_We all have a job to do, and mine is completing the mission to the best results. If we fail the mission it's _on _MY head, not on yours... I am more forgiving than our __g__eneral, and we all need to carry our own weight if we are to succeed. And if there's another joke to my expense Lieutenant, your career in Umbrella will come to an abrupt and ignominious end! I'm not the monster people take me for..._

_Monster... I am not monster. Hunter is monster... Benton is prey. Benton is human. Human. I am captain, not monster. Stomach hurt. Not hunger, something else... Hunter is enemy. Hunter turn on Hunter. Prey treats Hunter better. Alexis... is human._

"Benton..." Alexis whispered in her soft tone. Her eyes were less reptilian and more human. She felt her bleeding chest with some surprise, she shook off the strangeness of her situation and stepped to Benton. The height difference was in his favour as she retracted some of her height on her hind legs. She came in hot and out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around Benton and hugged him. She sobbed quietly into his chest.

Benton was able to take the tablet when it seemed Alexis was coming back to her usual self. He could only imagine what was going through her head, the internal battle between her human and animal mind must have been deafening. When she stepped up to him, he tensed up and became defensive, his dominant hand already on his holstered handgun.

He just held his stare, waiting on her, trying to figure out where her head was at. When she hugged him, he was just as surprised as anyone. It took him a moment and is hand slowly coming off his gun. With an exhale, he started to relax, feeling her sobs against his chest shattered his tough exterior. His mask was off and he wasn't used to it.

He stretched out his arm, holding the tablet to give to Dorian. His other hand came up and rested on Alexis' head, giving her that time to herself, shielding her vulnerable moment from those standing behind him. And he was willing to give her as much as she needed. "You're okay now. I promise," he said to her.

"I saw everything, but I wasn't in control... I'm sorry Benton." Alexis shuddered. "I found some of my kind in the lower levels. They mistreated and... broke me..." She buried her head into Benton's uniform and kept her voice firm, at least. "I wasn't ready. My brothers were too strong. I'm sorry..."

Obedience. Discipline. Unity. Dorian had all of the tablets. He cast a stare at the hugging couple, needless to say, he was a bit jealous. Feeling a bit of a third wheel. He couldn't, he had no time to wast on emotions and feelings, even if she was a good fuck.

It was necessary to complete the mission and now she might need more self-appreciation, she looked like she needed some _confidence. _Though the deed was done to William's request, she is carrying a unique specimen, that what he hopes. Or else he just traumatised one of his best subordinates for another one of Birkin's wet dreams.

_At least she's okay, for now… __Dorian_ thought to himself.

Richard smiled, as the two reminded him of his own signifiant other back in Raccoon City. Just to see her one last time, and the way her long brown hair smelled of that cheap shampoo. The memories were good ones, but as a solider he couldn't afford to waste time, the situation wasn't looking good for them.

Billy was glad he didn't have to use his grenade launcher on Alexis. Whatever she was, some sort of hunter-human hybrid; she seemed to be fighting with herself back in forth on what side was more in contro. A sigh of relief escaped his lips as she slowly returned to what he assumed to be her human, pleased that this situation didn't have to end in blood and bullets.

Watching the exchange between Richard and Benton with interest, he gave a light snort of amusement at the tenderness of the situation, finding it somewhat welcoming after everything. "Good job staying alive everyone," he praised and asked aloud, eyeing over at Irvine in order to tell the kid that he done good in his first real scrap… when he noted the far-away look on his face.

"W-What is all this?" Irvine thought down at the strange, reptilian woman, conversing with the man down below. She had looked like a monster just a few moments ago, ripping away at the giant centipede a few moments ago. Now, she had lost that furious anger and moulded back into a beautiful woman.

But what was she really? Monster? Human? Both? Neither? None of this made any sense to him at all. Despite having done his part in that fight, he was subtly shaking from both fear an' anxiety. Feeling a hand brush against his shoulder, a voice asking if he was okay; he quietly slipped away from the hand, turning his gaze away from the pit to rub his arm with his free hand, walking over to the metal door that would take them to their next destination.

"The general manager of this facility had a thing for puzzles and other complicated locking mechanisms," said Dorian, he had three thick stone tablets in his hand. "At tablet for each quality, he believed to be a policy of Umbrella. Obedience. Discipline. Unity. They will help us use the observatory to get to the church nearby. We can get in there now, thanks to Mr Benton. Now that we're all here we should stick together..."

"Hey, it's okay," Benton replied softly, a little drawn back from being out of his norm. "You're safe. You're you again. That's what matters." He just kept his hands on her head and back, keeping her close to his chest. It was obvious she needed it, whether to remain herself or just be comforted for what she's been though, it didn't matter. He was willing to accommodate for her sake.

It was definitely something to have gotten to the point of being a different kind of support for his captain, but he wasn't going to complain. However, it was difficult to ignore that she and the general did share or are sharing some kind of intimate relationship. Benton lost so much respect for her... and him. But now Benton didn't now how to feel. To have been someone that can reach out to her when no one else could... even Dorian himself, she might feel something towards Benton too.

The general's words echoed in his head, but he didn't turn around. Alexis had a hold on most of his attention. At the mentioning of sticking together, he kind of shook his head at it. This was what he recommended from the start.

Rebecca lowered her gun realizing she might have overreacted to the whole the whole thing. She holstered her weapon then went over to join Billy in the empty pool. Evie saw Alexis and Benton hug and she lowered her gun as well.

It was super sweet, like they were brother and sister. Evie felt her eyes begin to tear up. She missed her brother. Evie flipped the safety on her gun and shoved it into the back of her jeans before leaving the room. She needed a minute alone to pull herself together.


	12. The observatory

Dorian nodded and smiled his way past all the movement and slid his way back over to his subordinates casually and without drawing any undesirable attention. Dorian met Alexis with a concerned stare. "How are you feeling, Alexis?"

Her arms folded. "Like hammered shit. That whole experience has ironically made me feel a bit better about my place with people... but it was completely unnecessary." Alexis' hands clutched her head and swayed her weight side to side. "I was scouting down under, and I found some brethren of mine..." her voice was starting to crack, "Someone locked me in there and then they... took _turns _on me..." She retracted her hands. "I saw my self _enjoying _it! But at the same time… I hated every second."

Dorian felt something like buyer's remorse dwelling inside. Felt like he would have to pay Birkin a visit and vent his disapproval. He was glad she took it on the chin. "At least you're still alive. It's your duty to survive." Dorian handed her his handgun; she passed.

"My instincts made me appreciate my talons more as a weapon."

"As you wish." Dorian stepped closer to the two. Alexis rubbed her arms. "I want us to stay together now, no more splitting up. I _may _have forgotten about some of my responsibilities but we're too far in now to fail the mission."

"Yes. Mr Benton kindly reminded me of the mission at hand with my own words... We will find the original team's evaluation, and when we find Marcus, I'll tear him apart!"

Dorian choked and swallowed his tongue from Alexis' minor frustration. He forced a smiled. "As long as he stays dead this time. Benton, any updates on your end?"

"I have a lead on Dr. Marcus," Benton informed, crossing his arms, "He's at the Water Treatment Plant. Contrary to the painting in the main hall, he's younger. Very young. I think he's a carrier, it might explain his newfound youthfulness. He's also capable of controlling the leechmen we've been seeing. I don't know about these other creatures, though." He glanced at the dead centipede before back at Alexis and Dorian. "But definitely the leeches."

Dorian held his chin, thinking. "He _was_ their _creator_, must be a hivemind relationship they share with him. Younger though... that's new. Not only the virus recreates dead cells, they must reduce the ageing process. That's just my guess. The Council did _dispose _of him accordingly with all the other waste at the plant, I personally would think him still lollygagging around there would be too obvious."

"Usually the last place you'd look," Alexis added.

Dorian shook his head. "That would be the _first _place I'd look. We wouldn't have to if _somebody _did their job right in the first place, but I will be sure to vent my concern at the next meeting."

"No doubt that plant is rife with his leeches."

"Unfortunately. I'm actually a bit concerned about his vendetta, he's attracting too much heat with these leeches spreading the virus. Clearly gone off the rails."

"Destination coordinates?"

Dorian folded his arms. "Quite a few stepping stones. To reach the Treatment Plant we need to pass through the Chemical Plant by taking a gondola in the area underneath the cathedral. Looks like everyone is going there now so... they can draw some heat away from us at least."

Pleased that everything was turning out okay for the time being at the very least, Billy slung the grenade launcher over his shoulder. He wasn't certain what it was they were talking about but could make out words such as: "Doctor Marcus, evaluation, original team, kill".

Whatever was up, it seemed their was some sort of internal dilemma going on between the three of them, trying to track down this Doctor Marcus fellow. _He's dead though right? He's been dead for over ten years,_ he thought, rubbing his chin. Shaking his head slowly, he approached the three with a content look. Least he could do is express his thanks for the help, when they didn't need to jump in like that "Thanks for the save back there. It's appreciated."

Irvine hadn't moved from his spot, feet rooted to the dank, musty floor, his gaze hollow and somewhat far away. Their were stray bits of blood in his hair which he had neglected to dust out. "Blood… death… gore… body parts everywhere… cutting… fire..." he mumbled to himself in an almost mechanical fashion, his mind going somewhere very unpleasant.

His finger nails dug into his skin so tightly, it was a wonder that he didn't draw blood from how freaked out he felt right about now. Suddenly, he was back in the present; feeling himself be shook in a gentle fashion to snap him out of his daze. Glancing over at the three Umbrella agents, he locked eyes with Alexis for a moment, and felt a shiver of fear run up and down the back of his spine. "T-T-T-Thank you," he managed to stutter, quickly averting his gaze back to the floor in silence. He slid away with Billy without any notice.

Alexis felt like she wanted to smile at the young man eyeing her up; he was clearly a bit concerned about her being not human but still shown her some acceptance. That bit of gratitude and general emotion made her feel human. She smiled back to his appreciation, though she knew he wasn't comfortable being around B.O.W.s.

At the end of the day, she had to realise that her career with the U.S.S. was in danger. She frowned at the fact she might have to go under some therapy and back to the boot camp.

This forsaken training facility made Richard's skin crawl, first undead, monsters, trains filled with zombies, government conspiracies; his mind shook in responds to his thoughts. He walked towards the end of the small walkway on the balcony and toward the metal dome and stone structure that almost appeared like an observatory.

Evie was sat on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest. She was leaned up against the observatory. She sniffled and wiped some tears from her eyes. _Come on Evie, you gotta get yourself together. There will be plenty of time to mourn when you get out of here._

"Marcus knows we're coming; he's been watching since we stepped foot in the facility. Even took interest in where you two _rendezvoused _in the tunnels," he added, a brief stare between the two; he was certain they would catch on and was beginning to think he just put a target on his back for witnessing their fraternization.

"Maybe- wait..."

"I guess we should get moving. I'll monitor them from here on out," Benton said, referring to the other survivors. He removed his sidearm from it's holster as he headed for the doors leading to the observatory.

Dorian raised his fist. "Ah, fuck... That was a private meeting."

Alexis lowered her head.

"Well, can you say, our secret love affair is disclosed?"

"I don't care what the people say, your words down there made me feel better about myself and being a leader. When we departed… what went on underground when I scouted solo..." She shuddered and sighed. "There is nothing you could do to wash away that grizzly experience. I deeply recommend some _real _therapy and to be put back into boot camp."

Dorian lost his smile. "If that's how you feel then I will arrange it for you."

"Thank you, General. I will do better next time." Alexis followed after Benton closely, fighting an urge to hold his hand or something.

Dorian was left with buyer's remorse, like something he personally did that went horribly wrong. Alexis' experience with the Hunters left her scarred and deformed, and that made him feel a bit guilty since out of humanity and the lot, she was his only real family. Someone who understood him, a sister, a sibling, an equal.

It was for his employer's best interest and when they say jump, he has to ask how high as per their agreement, but this time Dorian agreed Birkin's little side experiment went a bit too close for comfort. He couldn't let emotions get in the way. He sighed and dropped the frustration altogether. He took out the stone tablets and went over to the observatory.

Entering the observatory through the double doors, Benton glanced up at the giant telescope. It didn't look like any ordinary astronomical device and with another glance down at base of the machine, there were three indentations. They were the shapes of the tablets.

Benton glanced at Alexis as he noticed she was rather close to him. He wasn't in the mood for a conversation and just diverted his attention back to studying the rest of the room. He then wandered around the concrete walkway over to the other set of doors. A light pull on the handle and the door didn't even budge. The tablets must have been the key, and their importance now made sense to him.

He sighed, knowing he'd have to wait for Dorian to set them in place. He then caught sight of Evie crouched in the corner near a stack of boxes next to the door. She seemed distraught, obviously struggling with everything going on. He then remembered her brother, the one who stopped the train. And the one who didn't make it.

Benton might have been the last one to talk to him before he died and he vividly recalled the kid's request to know how his sister was doing. He was growing hesitant, comforting someone was never part of his job description. But he needed them to stay focused. So they can stay alive.

He cleared his throat, inching over to the girl. He paused as he glanced over at the others, getting a fix on where they all are. He then glanced back down at Evie, "Hey," he said, taking the time to crouch down next to her, "you alright?" For a brief moment, he forgot she was a mute.

Evie wiped more tears from her eyes as she looked at the approaching Benton. Evie gave a nod in response to his question. It was a lie but it wasn't exactly like they could talk about it. She tried to push the thought of her brother into the back of her mind again to focus on staying alive.

"Keep your chin up kid. We'll pull through" Billy murmured gently at Evie, giving her a gentle pat on the shoulder. He kept his ears open to the best of his ability.

_Hunting someone. Still alive. Make him pay. __Something like that. _Everyone had their own reason and agenda, which seemed to coincide together. Billy rested against the railing next to Richard, he chuckled lightly.

"Something funny, Mr Coen?"

"Just wondering what details you were planning on telling your superiors about. _I__ was attacked by a 1__2__-foot __c__entipede? _Or, _I was riding a train that got derailed? _Or maybe, _I was trapped inside a sketchy facility filled with zombies?_" That'd certainty turn some heads at the office he imagined.

"I choose to keep my work ethic out of this conversation, Mr Coen, if you don't mind. Not like anyone would believe me. I just want to get Evie and Irvine out of here, no matter the cost." Richard felt the words like a brick as they stood there waiting for the others, what he wouldn't give to have a smoke at that moment.

Dorian stepped into the observatory and found there were too many people around. He hated that and longed for a new plague to wash upon humanity and spare him their inferiority. Though, their temporary alliance was necessary for the mission. If they didn't linger around and keep the attention away from himself, he would have never found the stone tablets the old man hidden.

Slipping past everyone, Dorian hopped over the railing to see the giant piece of equipment there gathering dust. A large telescope, though not all was what it seemed. The holes were there under it. Obedience. Discipline. Unity. Those words were etched there and it was as simple as a puzzle.

"Obedience breeds discipline," he uttered, placing the one tablet where it belonged. "Discipline breeds unity." He placed the second tablet in the middle. "Unity breeds power." Dorian slid in the final piece of the puzzle and felt pleased with himself. "Power is life, and that assorted lunacy."

The entire room shifted from its stationary position and the walls began to shake, rubble and dust kicked about. The observatory shifted and turned anticlockwise until it came to a halt after ninety degrees. "Now we're making progress," he continued to say, happy with the time he's saving.

Richard Aiken rose to his feet as he turned to the black ops dressed Umbrella hire, and began, "What's your purpose here?" Richards voice was low and collective. "I know your team isn't part of some training exercise, so spare me the classified BS for someone someone else."

Alexis stepped forward with her arms folded. "Spare me _your _BS and take your questions to Captain Savage." She walked away, happy knowing Dorian will answer questions better than her.

"Why you-"

Eyeing up at hearing Richards query to the strange, monster human girl; Billy grunted. "Chill out, Officer. From the sounds of it, they're hunting someone. Not sure what this guy mighta done, but it's apparently enough to warrant his execution or something" His tone indicated that he wasn't really judging, merely observing. Personally, it didn't matter to him one way or another. His plans hadn't changed in the slightest once he was out of here. _Canada or Mexico?_


	13. He made his choice

Y_ou can't trust them… _whispered a soft, caring voice. Irvine felt his arm hair stand up, immediately grabbing his left arm in shock, eyes veering left and right in a panic. He could have sworn he had heard someone speak to him just now. The voice of an alluring young man. "Maybe the fear of this place is gettin' to me… maybe I'm just goin' crazy," he mumbled softly, backing up until he backed up into Dorian's back. "S-Sorry.." He moved himself away from Dorian as quickly as he could.

"Please refrain from touching me, kid." Dorian pulled out his handgun and climbed up the small ladder. The door opposite the one they all came through was now open. "Now we can traverse through the cathedral. Should be a lot safer."

Rebecca joined Billy and Richard. "We need to try and get one of the Umbrella employees on our side," she said in a low tone, "Perhaps they can explain what's going on or show some kind of proof about this whole infection. Alexis had a moment in the last room where she appeared to be unsure if she was fighting for the right side. If we can get her out of here, she would be the perfect proof."

"I dunno, she seems like extra baggage," Billy muttered lamely.

"Well, that's your opinion. Richard?"

Evie kept close behind the three, listening deeply. She noticed Alexis was behind them but her focus was on that Irvine fellow. He's been acting strange lately… She got the support she needed and felt like she should start carrying her weight some more.

Richard had reimagined Alexis and her condition.Though, yes, she was proof of something deeper or conspiracy, she was also a bit of a loose cannon. What's stopping the creators or another government facility from locking her up in some god-forsaken lab to experiment on?

"No. Alexis is outta the question. God knows what's gonna happen if we pull of something like that. Honestly… if we make it out of here alive, be better for Lt. Coen and all traces of Umbrella's involvement to disappear." Richard had to weigh all the options. He was scared. Maybe Umbrella the pharmaceutical giant was connected to the catastrophe. For the better of his health and his friends, he'd best find a way to bring whomever was responsible for this tragic events behind bars. Even if he had to die to do it.

Benton followed Dorian outside; he already felt the breeze from the night air brush across his face. Before them was a long, stone pathway leading to the cathedral that was mentioned earlier. It looked decrepit, shrouded in darkness and gave him this ominous feeling.

"I never was a Sunday school kinda guy," Benton said aloud to Dorian, who was right next to him.

"Most people my age would be too busy with hangovers to even bother. Me? I'm simply too busy to donate a single brain cell to pray to some God, whereas I have the potential to be one... Or maybe I just stay in and get stoned." Dorian smiled. "Goes one of two ways."

Dorian checked his watch. The timing was good but now they all had to reach the underground gondola to traverse to the abandoned factory to get to another facility to reach the plant. A lot of stepping stones stirred his ire, the people he was carrying also triggered him. _Can't believe these humans are still alive and pestering me, __Dorian_ thought to himself.

"Since we have to pass through the Chemical Plant," he continued, "we might have to consider ditching these people. I could handle the Training Facility and this church but this is where we _need _to part. You, me and Alexis."

While listening to Dorian, Benton walked down the few steps to get to the lower platform of the stone bridge. He then turned and glanced up at the general, silently disagreeing with his option the ditch the others. Again. Alexis recommended they all should stick together, and yet, Dorian said nothing then.

Perhaps his intolerance of others and the act to be friendly was finally getting to him, the same way the mix of orders between him and Alexis was grating Benton's nerves. With the stress already high, Benton was teetering on the very edge of insubordination.

"I am going to disagree with that. You saw what happened in there, what we're up against. With all do respect, I don't trust you. Or her. I know how it works with this company. And I will do my job, but I'm smart enough to know you keeping me alive isn't yours, so I'm staying with them. For multiple reasons. "Benton stubbornly stood his ground on his initial point made when he first entered the facility.

Dorian felt a bit of shock having someone insult him. He chewed on the next few words, not wanting to risk losing a subordinate. By his hand or otherwise.

Rebecca let out a sigh. "You're probably right, I didn't even think about that. I'm sorry I brought it up." She said feeling bad for even suggesting it in the first place.

Billy gave an incredulous look at Richard, unsure on whether or not Richard was being sincere in believing his innocence. Either the was very good at reading people, or trusting enough to the point of naive. Still, he wasn't the ungrateful type.

Richard glanced at Alexis behind him for a moment; she was still watching Irvine… "Would she even be able to blend into society? She looks like she's becoming unhinged, and we don't know how loyal she is to Umbrella or these two." He was secretly praying that the night wouldn't end with all of them pointing their guns at each other in some kinda twisted, bullshit.

His view finally went and settled on Irvine, who was trudging about alone. He was always distant, or at least trying to be. Had that hollow-look in his eyes like he wasn't all there. "You guys notice something up with Irvine?" Richard murmured softly.

"All this crazy shit going on tonight," Billy said tirelessly, "seeing all of these monsters, blood, gunfire. I dunno. He might just be s really shaken from all of this, and I'm not just talking physically. That lizard-lady has him in her sights. Let's not get involved."

_Do you hear? They're all dangerous. All of them will turn on you,_ whispered the voice into Irvine's ear, causing him to snap his head quickly in the direction of the speaking. He paused on the middle of the bridge, ear titled towards whatever direction on where the voice was coming from to hear better. They were inside his head, so he just looked even more shifty.

Dorian folded his arms, his eyes gleamed through his sunglasses. "Inconceivable... You are only alive because of your better training and your superiors. Don't you forget about that. These freeloaders don't trust you any more than me."

"Trust can be earned-"

"Trust is also fragile. Will these freeloaders treat you any better than the Security Service, or at least pay your bills? I don't trust _anyone __but_ my suppliers, let's be clear about that, but that doesn't mean I won't pay or support my men."

His hands swayed out at his sides. "What would it take to keep a decent gun at my side?" he continued, "These people will eventually stumble on the Chemical Plant before they confront Marcus, and when they do, wehave to make sure they don't leave ALIVE."

_There have been little developments. Wesker had his suspicions about the young man's identity and kept them to himself. Hadn't even appeared, nor his image of the late Doctor Marcus. The cameras didn't seem to consistently function, catching the occasional blips here and there throughout the facility. Became a bit of a moot point. Nothing to see, to consider._

_It was the only thing distracting him from listening to Birkin's boring monologues about his new virus, and how much better it will be than Marcus'. He pushed himself away from the table and stood up, stretching his back. To think, a few years ago, he ___might ___have been interested in his friend's work. Though when kids come along, keeping friends gets a little harder, and Birkin was the only one he even saw equal. Now, with his own departure from the company looming, he found himself unable to donate a single brain cell to care about the little things. __Even __his younger friend's ambition._

_"We can't hide this, can we?" asked Birkin._

_"Minor setback, at the most." Wesker found his first excuse to break through William's obsessive monologue and took it. "It's been quite a day. I'll be off." He turned away and walked off, away from the table and that blithering oaf._

_Birkin stared at him, his pale face hovering by the screens. "What? Where are you going?"_

_Wesker stopped and shrugged. "Home. There's nothing more we can do here."_

_"What about the clean-up?"_

_"That's why we have General Savage down there; it's his field of expertise. Not ours."_

_"Even __he____has his limitations. You're playing with fire having him integrate with the nosy trespassers."_

_Wesker sighed, refusing to admit he was wrong about that mundane order. "I'll deny that____request____and have him double his efforts. Happy?"_

_"No!" Birkin was actually getting angry now. "The damage is done, he's already come in contact with outsiders. Have him eliminate them right now!"_

_"Do NOT test my submission, Birkin. He will do what's natural to complete his mission and make sure those trespassers trouble us no more."_

_William folded and sighed. "I'm concerned about my research, and having him work so closely to outsiders just stir my ire. What about __him___?" ___Birkin nodded at the screens._

_Wesker felt a small twinge of unease himself, not for his research but for the man who calls himself Marcus. His expression was unchanged. "He's gifted with parlour tricks, but I imagine he'll burn as good as anyone else. The general will relish putting him down in value of Marcus, maybe he'll finally shut up about the whole affair that day."_

_"It was necessary."_

_"Yes. It was. " Wesker wasn't a detective in a cheesy novel, driven by the passion to find out the truth behind the conspiracies. He was a man of science, and anomalies like this ordeal will burn itself out or at least resolve in time._

_"If word about Dr Marcus' fate g__o__t out-"_

_Wesker huffed and carried on walking._

_"You're walking away? Our work isn't finished here!"_

_Wesker stopped and turned his head. "The T-virus is near completion and only requires combat data. I will bring my subordinates to the mansion as I stated earlier." He continued on and reached a corner._

_Birkin slammed his hands on the table and crumpled up some papers. "__This is not going according to plan..." __He took a nearby clipboard. "Wait!" He ran and caught up with Wesker as he just reached the corner, stopping. "__What if word gets out?"_

_"It won't," Wesker said._

_"But you believe he's genuine..."_

_"Do I?"_

_"Yes!" Birkin growled angrily. "It doesn't make any sense. For the identity of that crazy man to be James Marcus? Impossible."_

_"I'm merely exploring all possibilities. I know what Marcus looked like back in his younger days, and fanatic or not, he shouldn't be ruled out entirely._

_Birkin fumed. "Can't be true! just because he shares the looks and sounds of a decrepit old man doesn't mean-_

_"If he knows the conspiracy around Marcus in any way, Mr Spencer's career will be over, not to mention ours too. I trust the general will resolve the issue and wipe the conspiracy clean."_

_"What are you going to do?"_

_"I'm simply bidding my farewells to Umbrella. These delays no loner amuse me."_

"_Right, and while you're down there you can do something about the labs..."_

_Wesker was coming to an elevator, his heavy boots clanging across the metal flooring. Birkin followed him like a stray pup. "Leave that to me." Wesker smiled, "Umbrella wants combat data, and I'm going to give it to them on a silver platter." Wesker's smile grew, thinking fondly of his little piggies in Alpha and their individual talents. The strongman Barry, Chris' sharpshooting, Jill's skills in theft and infiltration... It will be an interesting fight to witness._

_Birkin shook his head, his hair was a mess from all the late nights. "The team has finished the research on the T-virus and we just need a bit more time to complete the more powerful G-virus."_

_"Do as you wish. I will follow my initial plan to lure STARS into the mansion. They will be adequate subjects." He snickered._

_"Fine... In the meantime, something needs to be done about that whelp. I'll set off the self-destruct sequence, and annihilate this place to a mountain of rubble."_

_"Do what comes natural, but be sure to time it for the morning," said Wesker, flashing a grin._

"_Considering there's a slight chance I'll never see you again, w__e must talk about Scott..."_

_Wesker straightened his face and tilted his head, thinking. Scott earned his place under William, and eventually at his side as his equal. He believes his firstborn would rise to the occasion, if not, he would be nothing than a bitter waste of time._

_"Leave the boy to wriggle and writhe a little bit, if he should adapt to the complications then he'll find his way out of this dying company. We're just jumping ship ahead of schedule. If he's worthy __of my legacy and our teachings, I expect him to escape with flying colours."_

"_And what of your other boy? __Isn't Zachary in STARS?"_

_Wesker felt something pulling his gut when he thought about his son Birkin just mentioned. His smile went away after he imagined the whole trap, and how could mean the death of his own kin. He knew of Zaac's potential. Unmatched strength, speed and stamina…_

_That just made his smile even more genuine. His death would be the final obstacle in his B.O.W.'s combat data, if it defeats his own flesh and blood, he knows he has a winner. Zaac would die for a better cause, and he, his father, was going to grant him that honour._

_"It wasn't the life I wanted for him... but he made his choice."_

_To think Wesker treats his sons like this made Birkin almost throw up in his mouth. Made him think more about that little girl that lives at home with him and Annette, Sherry or Terry or something. "All the best for your experiment, Albert..." The elevator doors closed._


	14. Jackpot!

"That's what we should have done in the first place," Benton said sternly.

"If the mission didn't involve Marcus, I'd sooner agree with you, but it was a choice from command. Now that the worst is over, we can get rid of them now."

"Nothing personal General, but my chances of survival is higher with them then it is with you. Why? Two of them are cops for one. To _serve __a_nd_Protect_," he said firmly, his glare reflecting off the man's shades. "Your job is to _lead __and__ kill. _I'm expendable, especially if it comes down between me and completing the mission," he further added, not daunted or wavering in his low tone. "I'll deal with these people myself when the time is right."

"Well then, this is rather ironic. Our opinions on them seem to have reversed."

"I'm just looking at results. We're still alive and making _decent _progress. So far, so good. They hold out until we reach Marcus, that's when we could leave them to die."

Dorian admired the brutal tenacity of his soldier, though the truth was spoken. To tolerate the outsiders' interference was one thing, but to not protect the company ideals by just cutting them from the equation was unheard of. That was a gamble on company reputation.

To be ordered to work under Wesker and Birkin was not a good position, one half was an egotistical worm wired on paranoia and the other one was an inconstant madman. Both brilliant, but with flaws. He will vent all his frustration on the terrible choices about Marcus' rampant escapades at the next Council meeting.

"To be frank, this mundane order was not mine to make. You think I approve of this? I don't. But, a good general has to adapt to the situation."

Dorian turned to the door behind him and went to open it, as he did, he got a text on his PDA. It was Wesker. It simply said, _Kill the trespassers __and pick up the pace__. _Dorian pretended to not see that order. Wesker had to learn from his mistake of making a ridiculous order. And perhaps overestimating a dead man.

When Dorian opened the door, everyone remained still. He simply waved Alexis over; she was glaring at the young Irvine. Felt like she was boring a hole into the back of his head or something. She walked outside and Dorian closed the door behind. There wasn't a single word said.

Dorian placed Benton and Alexis in front of him. "There's been a change of plans. Even though I suggested we stick together in the first place, I feel that we don't need these survivors anymore. Benton believes these people can still be of some use for a while longer. Alexis, do you feel the same way?"

Alexis rubbed her arms. "Yes. We can carry these people until they are of no further use to our cause. No doubt the closer we get to Marcus, the denser the leeches will get to protect their master." Her body shuddered under the freezing outside air, being cold-blooded was a problem she would never ask for. "Those little teeth gnawing all over... could easily swarm prey with mob mentality. Better them than us."

"We'll get rid of them when we need to," Benton added.

"Then after… _careful _consideration, this is where we part. As much as I'd prefer to lead the mission, you both seem to have your heads screwed on right, despite fallbacks. It seems I've wasted my time."

"Sir?" Alexis said unsure.

"I've been entrusted to get rid of Marcus and lead your mission. Since you've adapted rather well thus far, you can resume your mission without me. While I hunt down that fucker, I want you two to find the Investigation Unit's notes and survive. These facilities are beyond salvaging, but those notes have a more detailed investigation. We cannot afford to lose them."

Alexis nodded. "They'll either be on John or Nathan's corpse."

"I expect they are. Find them and work on your escape plan."

"What if we find Marcus first?"

"Kill him. Hopefully, I'll get to him before you do, so don't worry too much. I won't let him out of my sight."

"So, nothing's changed then?" Benton muttered.

"On the contrary, a fair bit has, Captain. Congratulations on your promotion."

Benton looked up to his commanding officer for his use of words; they caught him off guard and he was a little lost for words. "What…?"

"Your team held you with such high esteem, Benton. Without Blake and Martin, you're the second-in-command, and Captain Daemith here is unfit for work in the meantime. In the case of the mission going awry, it is best you take Alexis' place as captain for the duration of the mission."

"I… don't know what to say." Benton realised Umbrella definitely did things differently than other organisations. Had it been the military, a court marshal would have been the predictable response.

"How about jackpot?" Dorian chuckeld. "Just kidding. Just get that damned evaluation, that's all I ask from you, Captain."

"I'll get it done."

"That you will… Putting down those survivors will be up to you. Right now, or save them for later."

Benton couldn't talk. His options was being weight around inside his head.

"All the best for your mission, Captain." Dorian walked away down the stairs. He quickly vanished from sight as the darkness around the cathedral consumed him.

Watching the general walk away, Benton could only think of one thing to say, "Godspeed, sir." He then sighed, a little excited from his emotions getting the better of him, but that scored him a promotion. He then glanced at Alexis, holding his stare on her. "We should probably get moving too," he said, a little softer than usual.

"Yes… Captain."

_Captain huh? Sounds weird coming from her… _Benton thought.

Bentonglanced at Alexis, thinking about her opinion on the survivors. He had to assume it was to stay close to him, but for what reason, he didn't know. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see she valued his opinions, especially after being able to pull her out of her reptilian trance.

Alexis felt her stomach, it was throbbing and feeling a bit bigger than the few hours before. That horrible image of being locked in that room with her brothers wouldn't leave her head, especially since she believed it was a trap set by Marcus. She wanted to make him suffer like the way she suffered in the arms of her own kind. Let him see the monster he made her. The vengeful thoughts looping around her head was spoiled once she felt a sudden urge to vomit.

And she did. Alexis blew chunks all over the steps, multi-coloured lumps smothered in yellow bile coated the ground. She breathed heavily and coughed up blood into her hand after the sudden queasiness. She wiped her mouth clean and licked up all the blood she smeared, smacking her lips. "Oh, no. This isn't good..." Her stomach was on fire, her head dizzy. Hungry... "I don't quite feel like myself."

Irvine clamped his hands over his ears in fear, lowering his head lightly as if he had some sort of headache. _T-These people… th-they were gonna kill __me! __Put __me__ up against the wall and shoot __me! Feed me __to one of __those__ monsters!_

_Do you see now Irvine? You can't trust __any of them,__whispered the voice gently into his ear, causing his head to snap up in Billy's direction, ___Richard is a naive fool, unable to identify a true killer when he's seen one. ____Billy____ is a man who would break your tiny neck like it was nothing, and sleep like a baby. ____The rest are ____like the soldiers; ____they____ are mer____e____ly bidding their time. Once the opportunity presents itself… ban____g,____ bang, bang, bang… ____Y____ou will die.__

Irvine gaped in horror, his gaze turning to Alexis' back. A shiver of dread ran up and down his spine at looking upon the unnatural, being of science. He was beginning to break out into a cold sweat at the mental images that began to form in his mind, painting a very pretty picture of what would be a gruesome and horrific death at the claws of Alexis. He backed away from the door.

_She'll rip you apart, tear your throat out, devour your eyes. She'll eat you to the point of where even the bones will be gone. A monster like her would show no mercy against you, __whispered the voice, planting more and more seeds of doubt in his mind._


End file.
